World Bank upgrade could disqualify Jamaica for HIV money

XVIII International Aids Confrernce in Vienna Austria

with Ingrid Brown

Friday, July 23, 2010

JAMAICA faces the risk of not qualifying for the money it usually gets from the Global Fund to finance the various HIV programmes, after it was recently upgraded to an upper middle income country by the World Bank.

Andrew Hurst of the Global Fund communication's department told the Observer that given the scare resources to spread around the decision had to be made for countries classified as upper middle income to finance their own HIV programmes.

"With the limited resources... make some of the poorest countries get and stagger the approach for the others," he said.

Hurst said that in the initial stage of the fund, even upper-middle income countries were eligible to receive grants, based on the high prevalence rate of the disease. But as funds become more limited, that is no longer the main qualifying component.

Jamaica, he said, has been upgraded from a middle income country to an upper middle income under World Bank standards, making it harder to qualify under the point system for grants.

But Jamaica could find it very difficult to roll out its HIV programme next fiscal year if the money from Global Fund is not forthcoming.

Dr Kevin Harvey, head of Jamaica's national HIV programme, told the Observer prior to the start of the conference here that the national response programme was J$120 million shy of the J$200 million it needs to effectively roll out its strategic plan to combat the disease.

Under the revised World Health Organisation's ARV treatment scale, which will see 15,000 Jamaicans with HIV needing the life-saving drug, up from the 10,000, Harvey said the true cost of what is needed might be closer to J$300 million, a budget which Jamaica would have difficulties meeting.

In the meantime, there is concern that the fund may not even have enough money to tackle the needs of all the middle-income and poor countries.

The fund was hoping to meet its target of getting US$20 billion in support from donor countries when they meet in October, but even that now seems a distant possibility.

Hurst said it will be very difficult to preempt what the commitments will be this year from individual countries because the global recession had hit hard all around.

"It's too early to say so we don't know but getting US$20 billion will be challenging," he said.

Under the WHO revised guideline which requires HIV infected persons to be placed on ARVs earlier that usual, the Global is said to be providing treatment for five of the 15 million people who need the life-saving drug.