The World Bank said on Friday that the current global financial crisis is expected to negatively impact AIDS treatment programs in some 20 countries in 2009, warning a number of them may already be facing hardship in supplying life-saving drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS.

According to a new report released by the World Bank on Friday, preliminary findings from a March 2009 survey suggest that eight countries now face shortages of antiretroviral drugs or other disruptions to AIDS treatment.

The survey, conducted in 69 countries which offer treatment to 3.4 million people on antiretroviral treatment (ART), shows that a total of 22 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, and Asia and Pacific expect to face disruptions over the course of the year, with the Eastern and Southern Africa "most likely to be affected."

These countries are home to more than 60 percent of people worldwide on AIDS treatment. HIV/AIDS prevention programs are also in jeopardy. Thirty-four countries representing 75 percent of people living with HIV already see an impact on prevention programs that target their high-risk groups, including sex workers and injecting drug users, the report said.

"This new report shows that people on AIDS treatment could be in danger of losing their place in the lifeboat, and mothers and their children in poor countries could face cuts in key health and nutrition services," says Joy Phumaphi, the World Bank's Vice President for Human Development and former health minister for Botswana.

According to the report, the World Bank is encouraging countries which depend extensively on external donor HIV/AIDS financing to identify impending cash shortages as far as possible in advance, and to liaise with the World Bank and other partners which would help to mobilize "bridge financing" that prevents interrupted AIDS drug treatment at the very least.

At the same time, the World Bank warns that maintaining and expanding effective HIV prevention programs during the current crisis is also essential to guard against a resurgence of new infections.

Besides, the report suggests that countries set up simple early warning systems to help track and minimize treatment interruptions while closely monitoring drug supplies and the use of key health services.

The World Bank also calls on the global community to "act within a coordinated framework of analysis and advice" so that countries do not receive multiple or conflicting assessments and recommendations.