Proposal on Revised Mechanism
of Selecting Applications for
Approval
Presentation by Secretariat of
Council for the AIDS Trust Fund
in Sharing Session on 7 December 2015
Observation (1)
• The annual expenditure of the PPE increase
dramatically from $11 million per year on average in
early 2000’s to more than $20 million per year after
2006 (ranged from $10 million to $40 million).
Observation (2)
• Yearly effective interventions conducted
by ATF-funded projects are increasing in
recent years
• These interventions will contribute to
achieving the target set by ACA
Yearly effective interventions
conducted by ATF-funded projects
Year
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
Outreach*
110,193
142,679
80,070
82,095
81,993
87,468
107,757
Condoms
92,500
565,937
524,113
537,114
657,577
828,641
758,602
HIV test
4,811
7,828
7,917
6,468
13,719
14,528
15,346
*Decreases in number of outreach on year 2009-2013 might due to transition from physical outreach to online
outreach
Observation (3)
• Monitoring the progress of funded projects
(e.g. achieve the targets of the indicators) is
important in managing the ATF
• Some NGOs granted with large funds are not
able to achieve the target of indicators
Observation (4)
• The whole Government is adopting a more stringent
budget control approach in general
• There are competing priorities for funding among health
and non-health issues
• During ATF fund injection in 2013, the Government
pledged the injected new funding will sustain operation
for 7-12 years
• From an audit point of view, proper budgeting control
for managing the ATF is required to optimise the use of
fund
Review on the future funding
pattern of ATF
Factors taken into consideration
• The need to achieve targets set out by ACA in
the Recommended HIV/AIDS Strategies for
Hong Kong 2012-2016 in the recommended
risk groups (e.g. no. of HIV counselling, HIV
test and condom distribution etc)
• The rising trend in HIV cases
Factors taken into consideration
• The anticipated impacts to NGOs and their
concerns
• The past inflation rates in Hong Kong.
According to Census and Statistics
Department, the average annual inflation rate
in the past 5 to 10 years is around 3-4%.
Proposal on overall budget ceiling
• In order to strike a balance between available
budget spending and concerns in increasing
trends of HIV cases, the 5% increase of budget
in three years cycle is suggested
Proposed Enhancement on
priority setting for PPE and nonresearch MSS applications
Assessment Procedures
• Technical Review Panel (TRP) : to clarify and
analyze proposal details on technical aspect
and make recommendation to Sub-committee
• PPE Sub-Committee : to consider the
application and comments from TRP and make
recommendation to Council
• Council : to consider comments from TRP and
Sub-committees and make the final decision
Priority setting during application
• When applying programme with more than
one projects, applicant is advised to indicate
their own priority
Priority setting on projects of
similar target population and /or
project designs
Technical Review Panel
• considering the following criteria without preset weighting:
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Technically sound
Risk of infection of target population
Type of intervention
Monitoring methodology
Past record
Creativity
Service users’ affordability and acceptability
Feasibility
Cost-effectiveness
Other significant factors if appropriate
PPE Sub-Committee
Considering the following points in making the
recommendation to the Council
– Technical Review Panel’s recommendation on the
priority
– Presentation made by the applicants
– Budget raised by applicant
– Overall resource allocation among each high risk
groups
Council
• The Council will take into account the
technical review report, PPE Sub-committee’s
recommendations, previous funding pattern,
projection of cash flow and pre-set ceiling of
the year in making the decision.
Project may not be supported on grounds that
• Borderline in technical aspect
• Not in priority groups of addressing the need
of target population or the local HIV situation
• Unsatisfactory achievement in previous
supported projects
• Not cost effective as compared with other
similar projects
• Lack of relevant experience for conducting
proposed project
– may consider 1 year pilot project
• For three-year projects, only those with strong
justifications on the continued public health
need and demonstration of good past
performance will be supported.
Timeframe for consultation and
Implementation
• Pilot in this round of application (i.e August
2015)
• Sharing session with all NGOs (December
2015)
• Fully Implement in next round of application
(i.e. February 2016)
Points to note
• To tackle the local HIV situation with available
budget, those with epidemiological evidence of
highest risk will be accorded higher priority e.g.
young MSM.
• NGOs will be facing projects not being supported on
grounds that they are not effective / with
unsatisfactory achievement, not in priority groups or
overlapping target groups with other projects.
Thank you.