Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) argues that the pace of treatment scale-up has not increased, and that funding has remained flat overall, challenging the international commitment made just a year ago at the UN High Level Meeting in New York to put 15 million people on HIV treatment by 2015.

Dr Eric Goemaere, a senior MSF doctor who, over a decade ago, pioneered the treatment of HIV in Africa and who still runs MSF’s substantial treatment programme in South Africa says,

"“Globally we’re finally past the half-way mark with HIV treatment, but that still means almost one in two people don’t have access to the medicines they need to stay alive. The pace of HIV treatment scale-up and the funding needed to pay for it have both remained virtually stagnant over the last year. If we’re going to reach all people who need treatment, we have to double the pace of scale-up and double the funds. Every day, more people need to be put on treatment than the day before. This can only be done if we see a dramatic increase in global support to fight this plague.

In places where we work, we see how fragile the progress is that has been achieved over the last decade. Health ministries are working hard to implement the latest treatment recommendations and policies to get ahead of the wave of new infections, but they can’t do it alone.” – Dr. Eric Goemaere, Senior HIV/TB Advisor for MSF in Southern Africa

For more information, please contact Sandra Smiley, MSF UK Press Officer, on +44 7889 178 472.