The progress made in treating HIV-positive people in the developing world is being threatened, say AIDS activists, by insufficient funds to sustain that treatment for all who need it, according to The Washington Post.

Participants at this month’s international AIDS conference, in Vienna, say that the Obama administration is backpedaling on promises to increase annual giving for global AIDS treatment efforts, programs his predecessor, George W. Bush, supported robustly.

About 33.4 million people are said to be infected with HIV worldwide; the United Nations agency UNAIDS says an estimated $23.6-billion is needed to fight the disease in developing countries this year, but only $15.9-billion — 27 percent of it from the American government — is currently available. Financial support for international AIDS programs stayed flat in 2008 and ’09, and the Obama administration has requested only a 2 percent increase for the next fiscal year.

“The paradox is that the United States government and other funding partners have decided to either flat-line or reduce their spending just when funding should be ramped up so we could actually win the battle,” said Paul Zeitz, director of the Global AIDS Alliance.

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