BUENOS AIRES - The global financial crisis is taking its toll on efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Latin America, said health experts on Tuesday.

"The financial crisis, the weariness in HIV investment, and the lack of donors are elements that rang an alarm about the capacity to sustain the access to long-term treatments (for HIV/AIDS)," said Massimo Ghidinelli, HIV program coordinator of the Pan-American Health Organization.

Currently, the treatment for 20 percent of people with HIV is paid with external funds, said Ghidinelli at a regional HIV/AIDS conference held here.

The largest donor is the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, but the global crisis affects the availability of resources through this mechanism, he said.

Ghidinelli warned that lack of funds may cause medicine shortages and aborted antiretroviral treatments (ARTs) in the region, which would affect 7 percent of the 600,000 patients that receive ARTs.

"To succeed in expanding coverage to more than 80 percent (of patients) by 2015, it is urgent to double the number of people who begin ARTs each year," he said. "It is essential to improve and optimize access to timely diagnosis and early medical treatment."

AIDS agencies in the region are seeking to help 40,000 to 50,000 new patients start ARTs each year.