Health Affairs: Donor Transitions From HIV Programs: What Is The Impact On Vulnerable Populations?
Robert Hecht, president of Pharos Global Health Advisors; Kelly Flanagan, associate program officer at Pharos Global Health Advisors; Hanna Huffstetler, associate in research with the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health; and Gavin Yamey, professor of global health and public policy at Duke University and director of Duke’s Center for Policy Impact in Global Health, discuss findings from a report on HIV donor transitions and the potential impacts on key populations. The authors write, “Too little attention has been paid to date to the needs of key populations during transition. This is a mistake. Unless departing donors and ‘graduating’ countries address the risks that key populations face, these populations could suffer serious health setbacks, and the larger national achievements in fighting HIV/AIDS could easily be undermined or even reversed. … [D]onors and middle-income countries should together develop a more systematic approach to preparing for, designing, and implementing transition programs for key populations” (12/14).