WASHINGTON (November 26, 2013) – A new ONE report on the state of the global fight against HIV/AIDS has found widely divergent progress in efforts to control the disease, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa—so much so that the phrase ‘AIDS in Africa’ has become an anachronism.

“It’s time to retire the phrase, ‘AIDS in Africa’,” says Erin Hohlfelder, ONE’s Global Health Policy Director. “Our analysis shows major distinctions between leaders and laggards, and that a one-size-fits-all approach to tackling AIDS on the continent does not make sense.”

According to the data, 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have already reached the ‘beginning of the end of AIDS,’ defined as a time when the total number of new HIV infections is lower than the number of patients newly receiving AIDS treatment in the same year.  At the same time, some African countries lag far behind.

ONE’s report profiles nine African countries in detail, analyzing their funding levels, national planning, and civil society engagement in tackling the disease. Leading the way are countries such as Ghana, Malawi and Zambia, where governments, international donors and civil society leaders have been working together to achieve dramatic progress against HIV/AIDS.

On the other end of the spectrum are countries like Cameroon, Nigeria and Togo, where efforts to combat HIV/AIDS have been hampered by insufficient political will or competing political priorities, inadequate funding, poor delivery systems, and stigma against marginalized populations.

Key countries to watch in the coming years include South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, where real, but erratic strides have been made in recent years.

Globally, the ONE report finds significant progress towards achieving the beginning of the end of AIDS. In fact, if current rates of progress continue, the world can reach that milestone by 2015.

“To reach this AIDS tipping point by 2015 would have been unimaginable just a decade ago; this acceleration is major progress worth celebrating,” says Hohlfelder. “But getting there is not a foregone conclusion – it depends on donors and affected countries doing more together to ensure that treatment and prevention services reach everyone in need.”

The study finds that one of the most serious challenges facing the global fight against the disease is insufficient funding. According to UNAIDS, the effort is at least $3-$5 billion short of the annual $22-$24 billion necessary to turn the tide against the disease. With a few noteworthy exceptions, donor funding for AIDS has stalled, signaling that their financial commitments often do not match their rhetoric on ending the AIDS epidemic.  Compounding this problem, the majority of African governments are not meeting their commitments to spend 15% of their budgets on health.

“In many ways, the AIDS fight is struggling as a result of its successes,” says Hohlfelder. “Because it is no longer perceived as a global health emergency, but rather a chronic and manageable disease, the fight has lost some of its political momentum. However, next week’s Global Fund replenishment meeting in Washington, DC is the perfect place to begin revitalizing the issue and recommit to the funding, strategy and political will necessary to make the 2015 goal a reality.”

Moving forward, the ONE report recommends the launch of a ‘prevention revolution,’ particularly among youths and marginalized populations, in order to accelerate the global fight against HIV/AIDS.  It also calls for greater transparency of the resources budgeted and spent on AIDS, both by donors and by affected countries.