Margaux Day (Class of 2006) - Independent Study Thesis [IR Major, Political Science Home Dept.]

Put Your Money Where Your Patients Are:
A Study of International Funding for AIDS Treatment

by Margaux J. Day

An Independent Study Thesis
Submitted to the Department of Political Science
at The College of Wooster
March, 2006
in partial fulfillment of the requirements of I.S. Thesis

ABSTRACT

Millions of people with HIV/AIDS are in need of anti-retroviral treatment (ART) in countries whose healthcare systems cannot sufficiently provide the medications. They rely on funding from foreign countries and international donor agencies to supply treatment. Despite the millions of dollars donated, there is little research evaluating if the money actually leads to increases in treatment of people coping with HIV/AIDS. One possible factor that might affect treatment rates is the source of funding. Is bilateral aid (aid given by one country), or multilateral aid (aid given by groups of countries or international organizations) more effective? Another factor is the recipient of the aid. Are governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) more effective at providing treatment? In my study, I examine these two factors to determine whether either affects HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries. I employ regression analysis to evaluate the types of funding and use case studies to compare the effectiveness of the different recipients. The study reveals that bilateral aid is more effective at providing ART than multilateral aid. Evidence also suggests that countries whose governments receive the majority of funding provide more treatment than countries whose NGOs receive the majority of funding, but that NGOs provide most of this treatment within the countries.