Abstract
Youths are vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases because they are sexually active. Hence, it is imperative to run public campaigns to sensitize teens on dangers of engaging in unprotected sex. Most public campaigns on sexually transmitted diseases fail to reach many youths due to inadequate fund. Additionally, most funding sources require institutions to meet numerous conditions, therefore, scaring the institutions away. It does not mean that there are no potential sources of financing for public campaign on sexually transmitted diseases among the youths. There are a number of possible funding sources that institutions and individuals intending to run campaigns can approach. They include the Global Fund, the World Bank and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The three funding sources support organizations that endeavor to control and curb HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Besides, their financial supports are non-refundable. A public campaign on sexually transmitted infections does not bear financial returns. Hence, it is important to look for funding sources that offer donations. Global Fund, the World Bank and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are suitable sources for financing public campaign on sexually transmitted diseases among youths because their assistance is readily available. Additionally, they do release their funds on time and do not impose a lot of conditions on their grants.
Introduction
Youths are at high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV/AIDS. They are vulnerable because they comprise the group that is sexually active. Education institutions teach youths on how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases. Nevertheless, many youths who are not in school are not educated on how to protect themselves from STDs (Carlos & Antonio, 2002). Additionally, there have been campaigns to sensitize youths on dangers of STDs and how to avoid them. However, there has not been adequate fund to guarantee that the campaigns are holistic. Consequently, the campaigns do not meet all the youths’ needs. Numerous avenues can be used to source necessary funds for public campaign on STDs among the youths. While it is hard to identify which is the most appropriate avenue, it is imperative to note some of the potential sources that can be exploited. This paper will discuss some potential funding sources for public campaign on STDs among the youths.
Potential Sources
The Global Fund
In 2001, the then United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called on nations to establish a global health fund to facilitate in curbing major devastating diseases in the world. HIV/AIDs, which affect the majority of the youths across the globe, were among the illnesses. Coovadia and Hadingham (2005) allege, “Global Fund operates as a financial instrument, not an implementing entity” (p. 25). In other words, it offers financial assistance to campaigns and projects aimed at fighting devastating diseases. The fund was initially aimed at fighting Malaria, Tuberculosis, and AIDS, since they were, and still are the most devastating diseases worldwide (Coovadia & Hadingham, 2005). Nevertheless, this does not mean that the Global Fund cannot fund other projects aimed at improving the health and life of vulnerable groups. Consequently, Global Fund is one of the potential funding sources for public campaign on STDs among the youths.
Eng and Butler (2005) claim “Global Fund pursues an integrated and balanced approach to prevention and treatment” (p. 123). They allege that Global Fund not only facilitates in treatment of diseases, but in coming up with prevention mechanism. For this reason, campaign on sexually transmitted infections meets the Global Fund’s parameters. The campaign is a preventive mechanism that seeks to protect youths from contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Besides, one of the reasons why public campaigns fail is lack of transparency and accountability in financial management (Eng & Butler, 2005). Individuals bestowed the responsibility to manage funds use the fund for personal projects. Global Fund uses an easy, inventive and rapid grant-making method, which emphasizes on transparency and accountability. Thus, project leaders are held accountable for money used in their projects. It would be hard for campaign leaders to embezzle funds meant for public campaign since they would be required to account for all the money they spend. Additionally, Global Fund would ensure adequate and timely release of fund, thus, ensuring that the campaign reach as many youths as possible and on time.
The World Bank
The World Bank has been working with other institutions to curb the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDs. The Bank regards “HIV/AIDS not only as a health problem but also a development issue that threatens human welfare, socio-economic advances, productivity, social cohesion and even national security” (Lamboray & Elmendorf, 2004, p. 86). For decades, the World Bank has been in the forefront in the fight against sexually transmitted diseases as well as communicable illnesses. The Bank works with other partners to curb further spread of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, especially among the vulnerable groups like youths. In addition, the Bank supports projects aimed at sensitizing the public on the menace of sexually transmitted diseases. As a result, the World Bank is another potential funding source for public campaign on STDs among the youths. The World Bank initiated Global HIV/AIDS Program in 2002 to help fight the pandemic. Additionally, it partnered with other bodies to assist developing countries fight HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (Lamboray & Elmendorf, 2004).
Public campaign on sexually transmitted diseases is not expected to yield financial returns. Therefore, it is not advisable to secure a loan for the campaign. Instead, people and organizations are supposed to approach institutions that offer donations. The World Bank is one of such institutions. It is renowned for supporting projects that are intended to benefit the public. Youths comprise the largest part of the global population (Rotheram-Borus, O’Keefe, Kracker & Foo, 2000). Besides, they are the primary sources of labor in most countries. Consequently, any project or campaign aimed at helping this group is likely to win support from the World Bank. The World Bank has multi-sectoral AIDS Campaign Team, which contributes to fighting HIV/AIDS in developing countries, particularly in Africa. Being a financial institution that advocates fight against HIV/AIDs, World Bank would be willing to fund a campaign that shares in the effort to curb HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The World Bank requires organizations seeking financial assistance to demonstrate the urgency of their projects. Besides, it prefers non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and professional associations to run the projects. The bank holds that these bodies can reach many people and utilize funds efficiently. Today, the World Bank advocates the establishment of coalitions to fight HIV/AIDS and other pandemics (Rotheram-Borus et al., 2000). Thus, the World Bank would not hesitate to fund a campaign aimed at sensitizing the youths on the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill and Melinda Gates have a global foundation that focuses on “Reducing global health inequities by accelerating the development, deployment and sustainability of health interventions that will save lives and dramatically reduce the disease burden in developing countries” (McCoy, Kembhavi, Patel & Luintel, 2009, p. 1649 ). Public campaign on sexually transmitted diseases is one of the health intervention strategies that seek to save lives and ease disease burden among the youths. The fact that the Foundation was established to fund any form of intervention that can help to curb the spread of diseases makes it a potential funding source for public campaign on sexually transmitted infections.
Additionally, McCoy et al. (2009) argue, “Priority is given to projects that leverage additional support and serve as a catalyst for long-term, systemic change” (p. 1651). Public campaign on sexually transmitted diseases is a collaborative activity that aims at achieving long-term goals with respect to eradicating the spread of sexually transmitted infections among the youths. As a result, the campaign is likely to get support from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since it is in line with their list of priorities.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation does not impose a lot of conditions on institutions seeking financial assistance. Agencies are only required to demonstrate that they are capable of running and sustaining their program. Additionally, the foundation gives its feedback within duration of eight weeks. Hence, it is a potential funding source for public campaign on STDs among the youths (Wasserheit & Aral, 2007). Individuals or organizations seeking to run the campaign only need to guarantee that they are capable of managing the campaign without hiccups. In many cases, people shy away from such campaigns due to the overheads involved in obtaining financial support. Because the foundation does not have strict conditions, it fits well with such a long-term and non-profit campaign.
Conclusion
Public campaigns on sexually transmitted diseases fail due to lack of adequate funds. Also, majority of the available funding sources require people to meet many conditions, therefore, scaring them away. Nevertheless, there are a number of potential financing sources for public campaign on sexually transmitted diseases that organizations can exploit. They include Global Fund, The World Bank and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. These funding sources are ever willing to support organizations seeking to curb or sensitize the public on dangers of sexually transmitted diseases and other communicable diseases. Additionally, they do not require institutions to meet a lot of conditions to secure funds. Organizations are only required to provide evidence of the urgency of their projects and explain why they need funds. In addition, they are obliged to guarantee that they will be accountable for the financial support granted. Because Global Fund and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation do not require organizations to refund money donated to manage public campaigns, they are potential funding sources for public campaign on sexually transmitted diseases. Additionally, the World Bank can fund the campaign because it also offers non-refundable grants.
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