375P

EXAMINING CANADA'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS
AN Samarasekera, TK Christie, JS Montaner
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, British Columbia

Objective: To call attention to Canada's inadequate contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS, both locally and globally.
Methods: Literature review and ethical analysis by which Canada's local and global contributions will be evaluated against that of other western nations, such as the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Results: Health Canada reported in 2001 that while Canada spends only $840 per HIV-positive citizen, Australia spends $2000 per person, despite having a lower GDP than Canada. In response to data such as this, annual funding for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Strategy (CSHA) will be doubled from $42.2 million to $84.4 million. However, this increase will take five years to occur, whereas US President Bush has pledged $20 million to be available immediately for national HIV/AIDS relief. Canada's global effort includes contributions to the World Health Organization's Three-by-Five Initiative and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and malaria. Although, Canada is currently the leading donor to the Three-by-Five Initiative, its contribution to the Global Fund is lacking as stipulated by the Equitable Contribution Framework. In 2004, Canada pledged only 51% of its equitable contribution, whereas the US pledged 117% and the UK pledged 140% of their respective contributions. Furthermore, both the UK and US lead Canada in contributions to UNAIDS in 2004 and overall.
Conclusions: Approximately 40 million people are living with HIV worldwide, including 56,000 in Canada. The United Nations estimates that 20 million have died of AIDS since the onset of the epidemic. There needs to be a strengthening of the Canadian contribution along the lines proposed by the Global Fund. In addition, an immediate increase in CSHA funding is required otherwise most of the new money will arrive too late to "stop the next wave of infections and treatment failures that (are) about to crash down on Canada."