Undertaken by the AIDS Accountability International (AAI), with key
input from the University of Cape Town, a new Country Scorecard
evaluates data that all UN member states agreed to provide to the UN’s
AIDS agency UNAIDS.
The report said that, from current data collected, it was also
difficult to analyse what progress is being made by governments in
fulfilling their national commitments on HIV/AIDS.
AAI said, in addition to rating national responses to the epidemic, it
had also developed profiles of AIDS responses in countries representing
a variety of regions, income levels and epidemic types, saying despite
important insights provided into these responses, the scorecard reveals
that far too little information is being systematically reported to
allow for a meaningful evaluation of the effectiveness of current
efforts to address the epidemic.
"Despite very significant expertise and resources, much of our
knowledge about responses to HIV and AIDS rests on assumptions that
have yet to be validated," commented Lars Kallings, chairman of AIDS
Accountability International. "There are also important gaps in the
information reported, for example, on human rights and gender issues:
if a country cannot account for how women’s specific vulnerabilities to
AIDS are being addressed, we cannot claim to know whether a response is
successful or not," he added. Â
Noerine Kaleeba, founder of The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) in
Uganda, further noted that "The failure of countries to report on many
aspects of the response is a major obstacle to holding governments
accountable. Current efforts must be improved before we can say with
any degree of certainty what is working and what is not in the fight
against AIDS. Public information and debate are critical to designing
effective interventions and saving lives," she said.
The AIDS Accountability Country Scorecard is intended primarily as a
resource for advocates, stakeholders and beneficiaries working to
improve national responses to HIV and AIDS through greater transparency
and accountability. The Country Scorecard uses 2008 data on progress
reported by countries against the core indicators used for monitoring
by the UN. The Scorecard was developed through a comprehensive
consultative process that included global health experts and civil
society representatives from across the world.
AAI also noted that UNAIDS had invested significantly in building the
capacity of countries to monitor their epidemics and in compiling the
information submitted in global and regional reports. It however stated
that though the number of reporting countries had increased, the
Country Scorecard showed that reports submitted were far from complete,
saying less than half of the countries provided essential data on
prevention interventions, and only a quarter of the countries reported
on information that was critical to addressing AIDS in the most-at-risk
populations. Â
"More than twenty-five years into the AIDS epidemic, there is still no
methodologically rigorous independent rating system that holds
governments and other actors accountable for their promises," said AAI
Founder and Executive Director Rodrigo Garay. "AAI is now changing
that, building on experience from other fields where rating mechanisms
have proven to be powerful tools for ensuring accountability." Â
"The Country Scorecard will help stimulate real debate about why some
countries are doing much better than others in the response to AIDS,"
added Ophelia Haanyama Orum, senior adviser at the Noak’s Ark
Foundation. "Policy-makers can use the AAI scorecard as a compass that
points to new policy and programmatic directions; advocates can use it
to apply pressure on leaders and institutions; donors to frame their
discussions about funding priorities; and scientists to advance and
frame new research."