GLOBAL HEALTH | Addressing the world’s health challenges
31 July 2008
U.S. Law Extends Global Assistance for HIV/AIDS by Five Years
Legislation authorizes $48 billion to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria
Washington -- President Bush signed into law July 30 a five-year extension of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), launched in 2003 as a five-year, $15 billion multifaceted approach to fighting the disease around the world.
The new legislation increases the U.S. financial commitment, authorizing up to $48 billion from 2009 to 2013 -- the largest commitment by any nation to fight a single disease.
“Just a few years ago, HIV/AIDS raged out of control,” Bush said July 30 at the ceremony where he signed the legislation. “An entire continent was caught in the pandemic's merciless grip. In countries like Botswana, AIDS had cut the average life expectancy by 15 years.”
Today, “the outlook is really different,” Bush said. “HIV/AIDS is still one of the world's greatest humanitarian challenges, no question about it, but it is a challenge we're meeting. And a lot of it has to do with PEPFAR.”
In 2003, only 50,000 people in all of sub-Saharan Africa were receiving anti-retroviral treatment. PEPFAR now supports treatment for nearly 1.7 million people in the region -- and tens of thousands more around the world, from Asia to Eastern Europe.
The Bush administration initially sought $30 billion to extend the program, which targets HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria; Congress added $18 billion.
“This new legislation will expand access to lifesaving anti-retroviral drugs, prevent millions of new HIV infections, provide compassionate care to millions of people affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable children, and bolster efforts to help developing nations combat other devastating diseases like malaria and tuberculosis,” Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. global AIDS coordinator, told America.gov.
“PEPFAR is one piece of a broader development agenda that is having a major impact in Africa,” he added, “and is giving Africans a window into the hearts of the American people.”
The measure allows the United States to spend the money, but lawmakers must pass a separate appropriations bill to provide the funds. The law also eliminates a statutory restriction that has kept HIV-positive people from entering the United States without a waiver.
MULTIFACETED APPROACH
Over the next five years, PEPFAR will make it possible to treat at least 3 million people, prevent 12 million new infections and care for 12 million people, including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children.
The law also will expand health care systems by committing to train at least 140,000 new health care workers in HIV prevention, treatment and care. It also commits $4 billion to TB, the leading killer of Africans living with HIV, and will help expand international TB programs, promote TB-HIV program integration and address multidrug-resistant TB and the growing threat of extensively drug-resistant TB.
The bill pledges another $5 billion to the President’s Malaria Initiative. In 2007, the program reached 25 million people in Africa with malaria prevention or treatment interventions, including more than 17 million people protected with indoor spraying programs.
PEPFAR SUCCESS
The initiative's success, according to a PEPFAR fact sheet, is rooted in support for local programs that use the power of partnerships among governments, foundations, nongovernmental organizations, faith-based groups and the private sector. In 2007, 87 percent of PEPFAR partners were indigenous organizations and nearly 25 percent were faith-based.
PEPFAR has also supported:
• More than 33 million counseling and testing sessions for men, women and children.
• Care for nearly 7 million people, including millions of orphans and vulnerable children.
• Prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission for women during nearly 12.7 million pregnancies from 2004 to 2007
• Prevention of about 194,000 infant infections.
In June 2007, the United States and other G8 nations set ambitious goals to support treatment for 5 million HIV/AIDS-infected individuals, prevent 24 million new infections and care for 24 million people, including 10 million orphans and vulnerable children, and cut malaria-related deaths by 50 percent in 30 countries.
“I want to speak directly to those around the world who have, or think they may have, HIV,” Bush said. “A positive diagnosis does not have to be a reason for shame. So don't let shame keep you from getting tested or treated. Your life is treasured by the people who love you. It is precious in the eyes of God. It matters to the people of the United States.”
More information about PEPFAR is available on the initiative’s Web site.
A transcript of the president’s remarks and a PEPFAR fact sheet are available on America.gov.
See also “Efforts to Fight HIV/AIDS Combine Treatment, Prevention, Care” and “American Firms Provide Help to Fight AIDS Pandemic.”
