Giving Compass' Take:

• While the number of cases of HIV and AIDS are dropping, so are funding donors for the issue. This lack of funding may lead to a return of the epidemic. 

• How can philanthropy create awareness around this issue? How can funders best direct their dollars to make an impact? 

• Learn about HIV focus areas to consider funding.

The HIV and AIDS epidemic could become uncontained if current funding trends continue, warned one of the founding architects of the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

“We are, in my view, at highest risk ever of losing control of the epidemic since all of this began,” Dr. Mark Dybul said at an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., on April 18. “Then, what do we do differently? How do we invest differently?”

Dybul’s words about the stark future of the HIV and AIDS epidemic came as the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington released a report about global health financing, which found that development assistance for HIV and AIDS has decreased annually by 5.4 percent since 2012.

“The reality is, and I think what’s behind the numbers, is that no one besides the United States has a bilateral program on HIV anymore,” said Dybul, who helped formulate PEPFAR and then served as its chief medical officer, acting director, and U.S. global AIDS coordinator. He is now the co-director of the Center for Global Health and Quality at Georgetown University.

Read the full article about losing control of HIV and AIDS by Teresa Welsh at Devex International Development.