Ensuring sustainable antiretroviral provision during economic crises.

Although the expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Africa has been celebrated for its success in providing treatment to more than four million people, there remain core challenges to expanding therapy to those in immediate need of care and those who will require it in the future [1]. The successes have depended substantially on funding from the international community, notably the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund) and the U.S. government’s President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The current international financial crisis, and the United States financial crisis in particular, represents a major impediment to sustainable funding and the necessary increased numbers of patients on treatment [2]. The future of AIDS in Africa requires sustainable responses to ensure scale-up and maintenance of ART.