PEPFAR Advances the Fight Against TB/HIV: 2007 World TB Day

Washington, DC – President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is leading a unified U.S. Government response to address global tuberculosis (TB)/HIV, and supports national TB and HIV/AIDS programs that fully integrate HIV prevention, treatment and care with TB services.

March 24 marks World TB Day – a day that highlights the global threat of tuberculosis. The theme of the 2007 World TB Day is: “TB Anywhere is TB Everywhere,” underscoring the fact that TB affects all corners of the globe.

“PEPFAR’s most important work in combating TB takes place through partnerships at the country level to support national health authorities, non-governmental organizations, and community- and faith-based organizations to implement effective TB/HIV programs,” noted Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. “By working with affected countries to build high-quality health care networks and increase capacity, we are laying the foundation for nations and communities to sustain their efforts against not just HIV/AIDS, but a wide range of other diseases, including multi-drug resistant and extensively drug resistant TB – long after the initial five years of the Emergency Plan.”

Collaboration among U.S. Government agencies, including those working domestically, has been strengthened – as have the Emergency Plan’s ties with multilateral partners, including the World Health Organization and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The U.S. Government remains the largest contributor to the Global Fund, providing approximately one-third of the Fund’s resources – and through 2007, the Global Fund will have committed $1.4 billion to TB grants.

“PEPFAR’s support for TB/HIV-related activities has grown over six-fold in just three years – from $18.8 million in 2005, to $48.6 million in 2006, to at least $120 million in 2007,” added Dybul. “By the end of September 2006, PEPFAR had supported care for approximately 301,000 TB/HIV co-infected people in our 15 focus countries. With the more than doubling in funding for TB/HIV activities between 2006 and 2007, we hope to substantially increase the number of people reached with TB/HIV services.”

The 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, $15 billion, comprehensive approach to combating HIV/AIDS around the world. For more information about PEPFAR, please visit please visit www.PEPFAR.gov.