AIDS Funds: Benefits

摘要

In Their Policy Forum "Global Hiv/Aids policy in transition" (11 June, p. 1359), J. Bongaarts and M. Over contend that global health initiatives focused on HIV/ AIDS treatment, such as the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), are not the best use of international health aid. We disagree.rnBongaarts and Over suggest that funding for HIV/AIDS is disproportionately high despite comprising <5% of the mortality burden in the developing world. However, in many countries death certificate misclassifi-cations underestimate mortality attributed to HIV/AIDS by as much as 50% because the cause of death is often classified as an AIDS-related opportunistic infection (including tuberculosis, pneumonia, and meningitis) without reference to HIV (1).