Dining with President Bush It isn't every day that you get invited to dine with the President of the United States, unless you're Anja Giphart, the Foundation's country director in Tanzania. In February, President Bush and the First Lady visited several countries in Africa, including Tanzania. Giphart was invited by Tanzanian President Kikwete to a state dinner that celebrated the Bushes' visit. More.

Bipartisan Support for PEPFAR Reauthorization Members on both sides of the aisle have shown support for reauthorizing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, ensuring the U.S. commitment to the global AIDS pandemic will continue until at least 2013. The House of Representatives passed a bill on April 2 authorizing $50 billion for PEPFAR over the next five years, which would significantly increase U.S. commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS worldwide. A similar bill, approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month, will soon be debated on the Senate floor. PEPFAR is set to expire in September 2008. More.

Dancing for Change College students have been dancing their hearts out to support children and families worldwide. In 2008, five universities have hosted Dance Marathons -- and raised more than $375,000 to support the Foundation's lifesaving programs. More.

Foundation Spokespeople
in the News Jake Glaser, son of Foundation founder Elizabeth Glaser, and long-time Foundation spokesfamily, the Merediths, were both recently profiled by major national television and print news sources. Twenty-three-year-old Jake was featured in the April 7 issue of People magazine and a March 31 story on CBS's The Early Show. The Meredith family was the focus of a March 8 story on ABC's Good Morning America and an article in the March issue of Poz, a magazine that chronicles the HIV epidemic.

Foundation Co-hosts Global Health Leaders March 3 through 5, the Foundation and UNICEF co-hosted leaders from 20 global health organizations for a high-level meeting to produce an action plan for the scale-up of prevention, care, support, and treatment services for HIV-positive women and children. Joined by leaders from UNICEF and the World Health Organization, Foundation President and CEO Pam Barnes urged countries to prioritize prevention of mother-to-child transmission and pediatric care, support, and treatment. More.

New Milestones in Foundation's International Programs The Foundation is making great strides in the effort to eradicate pediatric AIDS worldwide, according to its recently released data. As of September 30, 2007, 4.3 million women have accessed services to prevent the transmission of HIV to their babies. In addition, more than 348,900 children and adults received Foundation-supported HIV care and treatment services by the end of 2007. Currently, the Foundation is operating in more than 2,800 sites. More.

Expanded Care and Treatment Focus of Recent Foundation Meeting Expanding children’s access to HIV care and treatment is one of the Foundation’s highest priorities. Like so many of our colleagues around the world working on the front lines of the pandemic, Foundation-supported programs have been struggling to provide services to all HIV-infected children in need. To help change this, from March 31 through April 4, Foundation leaders from Africa and the United States met in Johannesburg, South Africa to develop strategies and activities to increase identification of HIV-positive children and infants, get them into care, and provide lifelong treatment. More about the Foundation’s international programs. More.

Foundation President Urges Testing on HIV/AIDS Awareness Days March marked both National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Pam Barnes urged women, particularly pregnant women, and women in Native communities to be tested, saying, "Getting tested certainly requires courage, but knowing the results is critical to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS."