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DHAPP works with the United Nations to provide HIV prevention education worldwide.

Last week, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to continue encouraging the incorporation of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support during international peacekeeping operations. Resolution 1983 (2011) comes a decade after the Security Council passed Resolution 1308, the first resolution relating to HIV as a threat to international peace and security.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice stated that in the last 10 years our knowledge about how HIV/AIDS impacts security has evolved. Peacekeepers, once thought to be possible vectors of transmission of HIV/AIDS, are now playing a unique role as their interactions with communities provide  ideal opportunities to address HIV vulnerability.

Rice noted the Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program’s (DHAPP) works with over 70 partner militaries worldwide, which has resulted in the testing and counseling of nearly three million partner troops. DHAPP has assisted militaries in establishing and maintaining HIV prevention, care and treatment programs for service members, their dependents and surrounding communities for the past 10 years.

DHAPP’s work with militaries ensures troops from UN donor countries are well-versed in HIV prevention methods prior to deployment in peacekeeping missions. DHAPP also works with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) as a member of the Global Uniformed Services Task Force on HIV (USTF) which focuses on HIV initiatives for all uniformed services.

This month the Military Health System is talking about Global Health Engagement.  The Department of Defense’s global health engagement efforts not only strive to keep service members and their families safe from disease, but play an important role in world health.

Military medical researchers have a long and successful history of battling infectious disease threats, and that tradition continues today in HIV vaccine research. Last year, the Army announced that a clinical trial (RV144) involving more than 16,000 people in Thailand demonstrated a modest ability to protect against HIV infection, reducing the number of infections by about a third.

 

This was the first time in over two decades of research that a vaccine has shown any ability to prevent HIV infection. The result from RV144, albeit a modest one, is a significant scientific milestone that we can build upon for future, more effective HIV vaccines.

Dr. Rick Shaffer, director of the Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program, was recently interviewed on This Week in Defense News and explained how HIV/AIDS prevention promotes military readiness and increases national security. Shaffer also talked about HIV rates and prevention in military organization worldwide, particularly in Africa, where the U.S. Africa Command has made HIV/AIDS prevention and education a high priority.

 

Click here to watch the interview.