DFID's Aids efforts marred by poor management, says NAO

Poor management in the Department for International Development's (DFID) is undermining the UK's efforts in the global fight against HIV/Aids, the Naitonal Audit Office has found.

A National Audit Office report, published today, identified difficulties in "adequately embedding HIV/AIDS across DFID’s planning systems; in securing information both to plan and monitor effective interventions; and in making best use of HIV/Aids expertise and knowledge".

Presenting a clear analysis of the DFID's efforts was problematic, the NAO said, as the department was unable to say precisely how much money was going out, and to where.

NAO chief Sir John Bourn said today: "The Department should put in place management systems sufficiently robust to ensure that people affected by HIV/Aids gain the greatest possible benefit from the increasing resources allocated to the epidemic."

According to DFID "estimates", it spent £274 million in 2002-03; and when reproductive health was excluded, it estimated that bilateral HIV/AIDS expenditure in 2002-03 was between £103 million and £169 million – "depending on the estimation method used," the report said.

There was further disparity in the figures as "a new system", estimating the proportion of DFID’s funding of multilateral institutions relevant to HIV/AIDS, produced an estimate of £57 million for 2002-03. However, the department was praised for increasing its overall expenditure in this area in recent years.

The report added: "In addition, a proportion of DFID’s general support to a nation’s budget can be channelled to HIV/AIDS programmes but, in common with other donors, DFID has had difficulty in identifying how much and is developing a system to address this issue."

In terms of prioritising and planning, the NAO noted that eight of 14 'Institutional Strategy Papers', which set out DFID’s relationship with multilateral development institutions, had even failed to mention HIV/Aids. Monitoring of progress against the objectives set out in these documents had been "variable", the auditors added.

The department should also issue more coherent guidance to target nations on issues such as the merits of funding anti-retroviral drug treatments.

However, the department's "broad-based approach, its flexibility of response in-country, and its role in supporting research as strengths", were highlighted as positive elements of strategy.

The DFID’s HIV/Aids strategy also compared well with HIV/Aids strategies developed by like-minded donors. It provides a starting point for country staff to develop programmes suited to local circumstances, the report found.

(gmcg)