The international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has expressed concern over the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and malaria board's decision to effectively cancel 2011 Round 11 developing country proposals for funds to fight AIDS, TB and malaria due to a lack of funding from wealthy donor countries.

Calling upon the donors to urgently commit funding to the Global Fund to ensure the continuation of programmes, MSF said the decision - made at the Global Fund's board meeting in Accra, Ghana on November 21-22, 2011– is unprecedented as it comes at a time when the latest HIV science shows that HIV treatment itself not only saves lives, but is also a critical form of preventing the spread of the virus, and governments are making overtures that there could be an end to the AIDS epidemic.

MSF's advocacy officer Shailly Gupta in a statement said that the devastating effects of the overall funding crunch are becoming apparent – for example, Cameroon and Zimbabwe are facing shortfalls in the near future to support people already on treatment, and the Democratic Republic of Congo severely caps the number of people able to start on life-saving HIV treatment. In other countries, such as Mozambique, funding problems have prevented the country from providing earlier treatment and better drugs, per WHO-recommended guidelines.

And further countries may have to put important plans on hold, such as Malawi, which in addition to wanting to scale up HIV treatment, wants to provide earlier and life-long treatment for all HIV-positive pregnant women to not only protect their babies, but keep themselves healthy. Some countries, including Kenya, Lesotho, and South Africa, had already been told by the Global Fund that they weren't eligible to apply for funding from Round 11 because of lacking funding. In those countries, HIV treatment coverage lies at 52 per cent, 66 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, Gupta said.

“There’s a shocking incongruence between both the new HIV science and political promises on one hand, and the funding reality that is now hitting the ground on the other,” said Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, executive director of MSF’s Access Campaign. “Donors are really pulling the rug out from under people living with HIV/AIDS at precisely the time when we need to move full steam ahead and get life-saving treatment to more people. All governments must chip in to the effort to curb HIV, but especially those with the capacity to really make a difference must urgently step up and support a new funding opportunity for countries by the Global Fund.”