JAKARTA: Indonesia, one of only three countries in the Asia-Pacific region that is seeing a trend of increased HIV infections, must plug a $30m funding gap in its fight against HIV, a UN official said yesterday.
President-elect Joko Widodo should build on the policies implemented by the outgoing administration, Cho Kah Sin, Indonesia country director for the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, said.
Indonesia’s five-year strategic plan to combat HIV/AIDS ends this year and domestic funding of the plan is about 40 percent, much lower than a 70 percent target, Cho said.
While the domestic budget for tackling HIV/AIDS has increased from $27m in 2010 to $37m this year, the current funding gap is estimated at about $30m, and it is expected to increase to about $175m by 2020.
“Indonesia is a middle income country (and) is going to have a challenge trying to convince international donors to continue to invest in development assistance for social and health projects,” said Cho.
“Eventually it will have to provide its own funding for priorities like health,” he added. “It is very important for the national government to continue to increase the proportion of funding for HIV from domestic resources.”
The United Nations, in a report, said last month new infection rates in Indonesia were a “cause for concern.” About 0.43 percent of the adult population, or about 640,000 people, are infected with HIV in Indonesia.
Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines were the only three countries in the Asia-Pacific region with a trend of increased HIV infections, the United Nations said. Reuters
