What is the Three by Five Initiative?
Launched by WHO and UNAIDS on World AIDS Day in 2003, Three by Five aims to provide anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to 3 million people with HIV/AIDS in fifty developing countries by the end of 2005. However, the Three by Five initiative is not a funding entity for ART scale-up. Instead it is supposed to serve as a catalyst for other funding sources. The initiative must strategically address the training of health workers, development of health systems, and improving infrastructure and standards. The Three by Five target was endorsed by 192 countries at the World Health Assembly in 2004. In order to reach the target, Three by Five cites five critical areas for action:
- Simplified, standardized tools to deliver antiretroviral therapy
- A new service to ensure an effective, reliable supply of medicines and diagnostics
- Rapid identification, dissemination and application of new knowledge and successful strategies
- Urgent, sustained support for countries
- Global leadership, strong partnership and advocacy
How does the Three by Five initiative work?
WHO has pledged to assist all countries committed to scaling up treatment. National governments must submit their request for Three by Five assistance through their WHO Country Representative to the Director General of WHO. WHO then organizes a country fact-finding mission conducted together with UNAIDS and country partners. WHO provides continuing technical support to develop a national ART scale-up strategy that includes initiation of scale up activities and trainings, and provision of seed money for activities. Technical assistance also includes capacity building as well as identification of procurement solutions and dissemination of lessons learned, and may continue beyond 2005. Support to countries is coordinated by the Three by Five Country Support Teams in respective WHO Regional Offices. WHO will continue ongoing implementation support throughout the course of the initiative and will also aid in the development of national monitoring systems and integration of process indicators into the HMIS.
As of June 2005 the Three by Five Initiative was not on track to achieve its goals and active debate was ongoing about how this initiative would move forward.
What donors and other global partners contribute to, or play a major role in Three by Five
UNAIDS and WHO are the two major multilateral agencies contributing to the Three by Five initiative.
What countries does Three by Five support?
More than forty-five countries have submitted requests for Three by Five support. The first Three by Five mission was conducted in Kenya and was launched in October of 2003.
What are good sources of information about the Three by Five initiative?
- Scaling Up Antiretroviral Therapy in Resource-Limited Settings: Treatment Guidelines for a Public Health Approach
- The “3 by 5” Initiative as a Response to the Development Threat of HIV/AIDS
- Estimated cost to reach the target of 3 million with access to antiretroviral therapy by 2005