Health 
World Bank strengthens commitment to fighting AIDS in Africa

Nearly 24 million people in Africa currently live with HIV/AIDS and the epidemic continues to ravage the development prospects for millions of Africans throughout the continent. 
In a keynote address to participants at the 3rd International HIV Prevention Works Symposium (part of the larger conference) in Durban, South Africa, Callisto Madavo, Vice-President of the World Bank's Africa Region, announced that the Bank will soon present a Multisectoral AIDS Program for Africa to its Board of Directors. He indicated that "This program will set aside US$500 million from the Bank's soft-loan window, International Development Association (IDA), to fund HIV/AIDS programs. Nearly every country in Africa will be able to access these funds. All that is needed is a sound national AIDS strategy developed in a participatory way, backed by serious government commitment." 

IDA provides credits on standard terms of 40 years maturity including 10 years grace.

The Multisectoral AIDS Program, developed in collaboration with the UNAIDS international partnership against HIV/AIDS in Africa, will help countries implement nation-wide HIV/AIDS programs. A large share of resources will flow directly to communities to support their own local responses. Funding will be made available for all activities authorized by national plans. This program is intended as part of the World Bank's long-term commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa and resources will be replenished as quickly as countries use the funds.

Madavo, however, stressed that "money alone is not the answer." AIDS, he explained, "is, above all, an issue of commitment. The sobering reality is that AIDS is not a health problem, but a serious development issue. Only where governments show leadership can international support be effective. We are beginning to see an upsurge of such leadership".

Madavo also stressed this message when he spoke at a concurrent symposium of the International AIDS Economic Network (IAEN) where economists from around the world are presenting research on the economic causes and consequences of the epidemic. The symposium is being jointly sponsored by UNAIDS and the World Bank and hosted by the Health Economics and AIDS Research Division (HERD) of the University of Natal. 

In recent years, the World Bank has strengthened its commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS globally. In June this year, the International Development Association (IDA) endorsed an aggressive approach and greatly increased lending to attack HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases, and emphasized the development challenges in Africa as a central mission for IDA in the new century. 

In September 1999, in Lusaka, the Bank's Africa region launched a new strategy Intensifying Action Against HIV/AIDS in Africa: Responding to a Development Crisis. The strategy stands on four pillars: (1) advocacy, (2) increased resources, (3) programs for prevention, care and treatment, and (4) knowledge. To stimulate and support its HIV/AIDS strategy, the Bank established a multi-sectoral AIDS campaign team for Africa known as ACTafrica. This team's work includes a variety of services such as:

· Mobilizing African leaders, civil society and the private sector;
· Integrating HIV/AIDS program in existing and new Bank-supported projects and country assistance strategies;
· Building an AIDS impact assessment module into existing environmental and/or social assessment processes;
· Collecting and disseminating information on the progress of the epidemic and;
· Strengthening partnerships.

The World Bank is working in close partnership with UNAIDS to ensure a coordinated, strengthened, and expanded global response to the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Source: World Bank

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