Demand for Programs for Key Populations in Africa from Countries Receiving International Donor Assistance

ABSTRACT

There has been increasing attention in recent years to the HIV prevention; treatment; and care needs of key populations in Africa; in particular men who have sex with men (MSM); injection drug users (IDU); and female sex workers (FSW). While several major donors have undertaken efforts to prioritize these groups; it remains unclear which African countries are actively seeking donor support for these programs. For this analysis; we reviewed publicly available proposal and budget documentation from the US PEPFAR for fiscal years 2007 through 2010 and Rounds 1 through 10 of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS; Tuberculosis and Malaria for 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Of the 164 searchable documents retrieved; nearly two-thirds contained at least one program serving FSW (65; 107 proposals); less than one-third contained at least one program serving MSM (29; 47 proposals); and a minority proposed programming for IDU (13; 21 proposals). Demand for these programs was highly concentrated in a subset of countries. Epidemiological data for at least one key population was included in a majority of these proposals (63; 67 proposals); but in many cases these data were not linked to programs