GHI and an AIDS-Free Generation; Lois Quam, GHI Executive Director

In a content-rich speech at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Secretary Clinton delivered a clarion call for the U.S. to lead the world to create an AIDS-free generation. Framing the aspiration within the framework of the Obama Administration’s Global Health Initiative (GHI), Secretary Clinton reminded Americans that they should take deep pride in the fact that taxpayer investments in science are solving seemingly intractable problems such as HIV/AIDS.

Secretary Clinton made the clear case that an AIDS-free generation is within our grasp, achievable through a “combination prevention” strategy that focuses on a set of interventions that have been proven to be most effective: ending mother-to-child transmission, expanding voluntary medical male circumcision, and scaling up treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.

She said we have come to this momentous point in time, not only through advances in science, but through our investments in PEPFAR that have created a health platform in many of the poorest countries capable of delivering many more needed health services including vaccines, pregnancy testing, malaria treatment and bed nets. This broad approach to strengthening health systems is truly revolutionary and critical to the promise of an AIDS-free generation.

The Secretary made it clear that creating an AIDS-free generation will require donors to stay the course and recipient nations to demonstrate country ownership and self-sufficiency by stepping up and investing more in their own citizens’ health.

In upcoming speeches and announcements, expect to see more components of the vision of the Global Heath Initiative from the Secretary and the global health team.