More Than a Health Crisis

Few fights are more pressing than the fight against the continuing HIV/AIDS pandemic. Estimates of people living with HIV were between 36 and 44 million at the end of 2004; over 10 million children have been orphaned by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

The impact of HIV/AIDS reaches far beyond the tragic loss of life. Families, communities and nations are facing the social and economic toll of the crippling loss of human capacity: in many African countries AIDS has claimed more than half of their trained teachers and one in four of their trained physicians, and many countries have experienced up to 60% decreases in food production and significant reductions in industrial productivity.  The crisis represents a major challenge to fundamental human rights, illustrated most starkly by the inequity of treatment access between rich and poor countries, particularly in Southern Africa which accounts for 84% of AIDS deaths, but just 3% of global AIDS spending.

Bringing Global AIDS Activists Together:
Building a Movement to Save Lives

The Collaborative Fund for HIV Treatment Preparedness represents the first time that a global coalition of people living with AIDS has developed a funding mechanism that allows them to set funding priorities and implement their strategies. Over 100 community-based and regional organizations around the world are already involved.

The direct involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS in policy and program development has been at the forefront of success in the fight against AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. It is people living with HIV that developed harm reduction approaches, such as needle exchange programs, and other HIV prevention efforts, such as safer sex practices. People with AIDS around the world have developed the primary models for HIV advocacy, care and support.

The World Health Organization selected the HIV Collaborative Fund as the sole funding recipient for its Preparing for Treatment Program of the “3 by 5 Initiative.” The goal of this WHO initiative was to provide at least 3 million people living with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries with life-prolonging antiretroviral treatment by the end of 2005.

Working with Tides

The Collaborative Fund for HIV Treatment Preparedness is fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center and utilizes the services of Tides Foundation to do its grantmaking. Additionally, The Collaborative Fund is a tenant of Thoreau Center New York, a multi-tenant nonprofit center operated by Tides Shared Spaces.

Click here to learn more about the Collaborative Fund for HIV Treatment Preparedness.