Bethesda, MD -- Responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and tackling so-called neglected tropical diseases are the focus of the November/December 2009 edition of Health Affairs . The articles, by leading global health experts from around the world, show that although these challenges differ dramatically, rising to meet them could save millions of lives.
Increasing prevalence of HIV infection, coupled with the current global economic slowdown, portends a drastic funding shortfall for addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic in both the short and long run. By the year 2031, when the pandemic enters its 50th year, funding needed for developing countries could reach $35 billion annually -- three times the current level, according to a paper coauthored by Robert Hecht. Even then, more than 1 million people will be newly infected each year; some 33 million people worldwide are infected currently.
"We are staring at the face of a huge crisis," says Hecht, managing director of the Results for Development Institute in Washington, D.C. "However, we have an opportunity and an obligation to mitigate this crisis by making difficult but necessary policy choices now." He and his coauthors predict that by investing in high-impact prevention and efficient treatment efforts, world policymakers could cut the cost of fighting the pandemic by more than half.
Hecht's paper is one of a series of articles in this issue of Health Affairs devoted to the economic, political, scientific, and ethical challenges facing world policymakers in their response to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. The articles, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focus on steps policymakers can take to change the dynamics of the pandemic so that millions of lives will be saved, infections prevented, and overall costs made more affordable.
Other highlights include the following:
It's Time To Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases
Approximately 1 billion people, mostly in the developing world, die or are sickened by a class of infectious diseases often referred to as "neglected" tropical diseases. Today, more than 30 diseases caused by worms, protozoa, bacteria, fungi, or viruses afflict the poorest people in the poorest countries, and collectively cause as much burden as does malaria or AIDS. Global health researchers argue these conditions are demonstrably treatable and can even be eliminated without a large investment of dollars.
Another cluster of papers and perspectives in Health Affairs focuses on strategies and policies for fighting neglected diseases. Publication of the cluster was supported by Global Health Progress, an initiative of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). In the series:
All articles are available to reporters upon request. To access a full table of contents from the issue, please click here: http://www.healthaffairs.org/press/NovDec09_TOC.pdf
Health Affairs , published by Project HOPE, is the leading journal of health policy. The peer-reviewed journal appears bimonthly in print with additional online-only papers published weekly as Health Affairs Web Exclusives at www.healthaffairs.org . Copies of the November/December 2009 issue will be provided free to interested members of the press. Journalists may also access content on the Health Affairs Web site after the embargo lifts by using the press username "press" and the password "health." Address inquiries to Sue Ducat at 301-841-9962 ( sducat@projecthope.org ).
Health Affairs