The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Releases Fourth Annual Report to Congress: The Power of Partnerships

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2008

Washington, DC – Information released today in The Power of Partnerships: The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Fourth Annual Report to Congress underscores the importance of the close working relationship between the American people and host nations in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Reviewing the success of President George W. Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR/Emergency Plan), Ambassador Mark Dybul, PEPFAR Coordinator, said: “The Emergency Plan works in partnership with host nations to build capacity for the long run, beyond the initial five years of PEPFAR.” He added: “We’re supporting the local leadership that is turning the tide of the pandemic.”

In 2007, PEPFAR partnered with 2,217 local organizations — up from 1,588 in 2004 — and 87 percent of partners were local. PEPFAR estimates its investment in network development, human resources and local organization capacity development in 2007 at roughly $640 million. From 2004 through 2007, PEPFAR supported nearly 2.6 million training and retraining encounters for health care workers. In 2006 and 2007, PEPFAR provided approximately $281 million to support training activities.

Just five years ago, many wondered whether HIV prevention, treatment and care could ever successfully be provided in resource-limited settings where HIV was a death sentence. Only 50,000 people living with HIV in all of sub-Saharan Africa were receiving antiretroviral treatment.

Thanks to partnerships with host nations, the change since 2004 has been remarkable. PEPFAR has supported antiretroviral treatment for approximately 1.45 million men, women, and children through September 2007 — including approximately 1.36 million in the 15 PEPFAR focus countries, and more than 1.33 million in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that this treatment support will save nearly 3.2 million adult years of life through September 2009. The Emergency Plan has also supported care for more than 6.6 million people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, including 2.7 million orphans and vulnerable children. It supported counseling and testing for more than 33 million people to date, including more than 10 million pregnant woman at antenatal clinics.

PEPFAR reached approximately 57.6 million people through community outreach programs to prevent sexual transmission in the focus countries during 2007. Since the program’s inception, the Emergency Plan has supported prevention of mother-to child-transmission for women during more than 10 million pregnancies. For pregnant women found to be HIV-positive, it has provided antiretroviral prophylaxis in more than 827,000 pregnancies, preventing an estimated 157,000 infant HIV infections.

The success of the Emergency Plan is firmly rooted in partnerships between the American people and the people of the countries in which it is privileged to serve — governments, non-governmental organizations including faith- and community-based organizations, and the private sector. Through these partnerships, PEPFAR is building systems and empowering individuals, communities and nations to tackle HIV/AIDS.

With support from PEPFAR, host countries are developing and expanding a culture of accountability that is rooted in country, community, and individual ownership of and participation in the response to HIV/AIDS. While HIV/AIDS is unmistakably the focus of PEPFAR, the initiative’s support for technical and organizational capacity-building for local organizations has important spillover effects that support nations’ broader efforts for sustainable development.

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease – a five year, $18.8 billion, comprehensive approach to combating HIV/AIDS around the world. For more information about PEPFAR or its Fourth Annual Report to Congress: The Power of Partnerships, please visit www.PEPFAR.gov.