Washington, DC — 10 November 2009-(AfricaFocus)- "After almost a decade of progress in rolling out AIDS treatment we have seen substantial improvements, both for patients and public health. But recent funding cuts mean doctors and nurses are being forced to turn HIV patients away from clinics as if we were back in the 1990s before treatment was available" - Dr Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Director of MSF's Access to Essential Medicines Campaign.

A new report released by Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) / Doctors without Borders, documents both extensive achievements in expanding AIDS treatment in recent years, and the threat that funding slowdowns will not only stall expanding treatment, but also force life-threatening cutbacks for patients already on treatment.

"Meanwhile," the report notes, "a dangerous trend is underway in the global health policy arena. Rather than looking for ways to leverage and replicate the success of the AIDS public health revolution to improve global health, there are increasing calls for a diversion of foreign aid away from HIV/AIDS and towards other health priorities. While there is clearly a need to give urgent and additional resources to an array of global health priorities, not least maternal and child health, cutting HIV/AIDS funding is not the answer."