The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(PREFAR)
has seen a dramatic decrease in funding
in critical parts of its budget according to a
UCLA study.
PREFAR was started in 2003 with the goal of saving the lives of people who are living with HIV and AIDS around the world. The decrease in funding could have a global impact, as PREFAR helps tens of millions of people worldwide by paying for antiretroviral therapy, HIV testing, counseling and other programs.
The agency’s budget is separated into five core activities: prevention, care, treatment, management and operations, and governance and systems. Governance and systems is the recipient of nearly one-sixth of the organization’s funding due to the support it provides for the infrastructure of delivering HIV and AIDS-related services, which is especially true in low-income countries.
After increasing each year from 2004 to 2011, the unit’s funding dropped from 2012 to 2013 and was cut by 33 percent from 2013 to 2014.