Britain is cutting bilateral aid for HIV/AIDS projects in developing countries by 32 percent, from 59.9 million pounds to 41 million pounds, between now and 2015, according to data from the Department for International Development (DfID), the Guardian reports. “The drop in support comes despite a 92 percent rise in Britain’s bilateral aid for global health, from 376 million pounds to 723 million pounds by 2015, when reproductive, maternal and newborn health will absorb 64 percent of DfID’s global health funding,” the newspaper writes.

“By contrast, the share of funding for HIV and AIDS will drop from 16 percent [of DfID’s global health funding] in 2010/2011 to under six percent in 2014/2015,” the Guardian notes, adding, “The funding will drop by nearly 85 percent in Asia (from 13 million pounds to 2 million pounds) and 17 percent in Africa (from 46.9 million pounds to 39 million pounds).” “Despite the drop in bilateral funding, the department said it was not reducing its efforts against HIV/AIDS,” the Guardian writes, noting, “The decrease in bilateral spending on HIV/AIDS was indicative of a shift away from targeting specific diseases, to a strengthening of health systems in general, experts said” (Tran/Provost, 10/4).