World AIDS Day: “Leading With Science, Uniting For Action”

Port Louis, November 29, 2011:

Investments in global health are a pillar of American leadership; they are also an expression of American values. Thus to mark Worlds AIDS Day this year, the U.S. Embassy is partnering with the Port Louis - USA Alumni Association (PLUSAAA) for an event which will gather some of the most vulnerable targets of the AIDS scourge: women and youths. On Worlds AIDS Day on December 1, Cité Florida in Baie du Tombeau will host a symbolic event which will include the testimonial of patients living with HIV.

“For 30 years, the United States has led the global effort to bring scientific advances to bear in saving lives,” Chargé d’Affaires Troy Fitrell recalls. “We have produced a track record of excellence in science. Today we are making major investments in the search for a vaccine; for tools like microbicides, which give women the power to protect themselves; and other lifesaving innovations. When the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was launched in 2003, only 50,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa were receiving the antiretroviral drugs that would keep them alive. Now, more than 5 million do, along with more than a million people in other regions of the world, and the vast majority receive drugs financed by either PEPFAR or the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which the United States helped create.”

PEPFAR is furthermore working with African countries to build the capacity to lead national responses to the scourge of AIDS. Progress toward country ownership is essential for country programs to be sustainable for the long term. In addition to governments, country ownership means embracing the efforts of civil society, including NGOs.  “PLUSAAA is strongly committed to raise awareness around AIDS, particularly in Mauritius where it is still difficult to talk openly about it. PLUSAAA is aware that all stakeholders have to join in to fight AIDS and support HIV positive patients. This is why we are proud to be associated to this event,” PLUSAAA spokesperson Marie Noelle Elissac-Foy says.

Such engagement from government and civil society, combined with scientific advances, are the tools that will allow progress towards the goal of achieving an AIDS-free generation.