Introduction

“The world has never taken on a more challenging task in the field of international health. It is imperative that as these major programs roll out, country by country, we put in place the mechanisms to measure, to study, to learn lessons, and to share those lessons widely”.
Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 2003 to 2007

HIV research and evaluation is the last aspect of the middle ring, which deals with the collection, capturing and verification of data, one of the 12 components of a functional HIV M&E system. This Component is also often the most neglected part of any national HIV M&E system.  By 2006, less than 2% of the World Bank funding for HIV had been spent on HIV research confirming serious underspending in the area of HIV research and evaluation.