1/31/2008

Contact: Robert Yule
202-448-8456
ryule@pedaids.org

Statement of Pamela W. Barnes, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

It is imperative that we do the most possible good with every penny available to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The PEPFAR Accountability and Transparency Act, introduced this afternoon by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), will give us the best chance to advance lifesaving treatments today and deliver the cutting-edge therapies of tomorrow by improving the accountability and efficiency of the U.S. global HIV/AIDS effort.

We welcome this bill, which would help ensure that the resources provided by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are used as effectively as possible. It would help maximize the impact of PEPFAR dollars by elevating operations research — determining best practices and evidence-based solutions — as a new core function within PEPFAR. It also would require development of a five-year strategic plan to prioritize the most critical operational questions with timelines for action.

The scale and unprecedented nature of PEPFAR creates both the imperative and the opportunity to learn how to improve access to high-quality services. The PEPFAR Accountability and Transparency Act would help policymakers and stakeholders evaluate what strategies work best in the field and funnel that knowledge back to programs on the frontlines of the pandemic.

In 2007, almost half a million children became infected with HIV, most by mother-to-child transmission. Almost all of these infections could have been prevented. Yet less than 10 percent of HIV-positive pregnant women in resource-poor countries have access to services that can prevent the transmission of the virus to their babies. Operations research can help us devise strategies to make HIV testing and counseling more widely available, determine alternative methods for diagnosing HIV in infants where sophisticated laboratory facilities are not available, and study the impact of early cessation of breast-feeding on preventing HIV transmission.

We applaud Senator Clinton for introducing legislation that can help maximize the return on our investment in PEPFAR and help many more children, women, and families benefit from its lifesaving programs. We urge Congress to quickly pass this bill as part of the reauthorization of PEPFAR.

Learn more about the Foundation’s policy recommendations on operations research and PEPFAR.

###

About the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is a worldwide leader in the fight against pediatric AIDS. Its innovative research programs, collaborative training initiatives, advocacy efforts, and rapidly expanding international prevention and treatment programs are bringing dramatic changes to the lives of children worldwide.