The evolution and future of donor assistance for AIDS 

The past twelve years have witnessed a spectacular forty fold increase in the amount spent on HIV/AIDS efforts in low- and middle-income countries-from a mere $250 million in 1996 to $10 billion in 2007. The current economic crise reveal the vulnerabilities of programs reliant on a constant flow of external funding. The downturn also threatens to marginalize health and development agendas, as donor attention is focused on emergency schemes to prevent global financial catastrophe. There are a number of actions that the donor community and national governments can undertake now to secure sustained funding and transform emergency responses into sustainable engagements through the fiftieth anniversary of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in 2031 and beyond.