HIV and AIDS Around the World
Photo: Jon Hrusa |
Strategic leadership – both in the U.S. and around the world – is essential if the global health community is to turn the tide against the AIDS pandemic. Every day, 900 children around the world become infected with HIV
(UNAIDS 2012), the vast majority through mother-to-child transmission. Without diagnosis and treatment, one-third of infected infants will die before the age of one, and almost half before their second birthday.
EGPAF is committed to advocating for the expansion of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to provide care and treatment services for children, women, and families living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. Working closely every day with our numerous partners, including national governments, multilateral institutions, and other nongovernmental organizations, EGPAF provides a strong voice for women, children, and families across the globe.
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U.S. Commitment to Fighting Global HIV and AIDS
Photo: Olivier Asselin |
In 2008, the U.S. Congress reauthorized the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to combat global HIV/AIDS – authorizing up to $48 billion over five years to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria worldwide. Originally launched in 2003, PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any single nation to combat HIV and AIDS.
As one of the largest providers of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services under PEPFAR, EGPAF works in 15 countries around the world to advocate for and implement PEPFAR programs to increase access to lifesaving prevention, care, and treatment services for women, children, and families living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.
Today, EGPAF continues to implement HIV and AIDS programs and advocate for children and women around the world, ensuring that PEPFAR programs are effective on the ground and that U.S. funding continues to grow in order to turn the tide against HIV and AIDS.
As part of its current five-year implementation strategy (2010-2014), PEPFAR has placed special emphasis on PMTCT and pediatric care and treatment. PEPFAR is committed to reaching 80 percent of pregnant women with PMTCT services and reaching more infants and children with HIV testing and treatment services, while also forging critical linkages between maternal and child health services and HIV prevention, care, and treatment services.
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Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV
Photo: Bill McCarthy |
Every day, 900 children around the world become infected with HIV – the vast majority through mother-to-child transmission. Fortunately, there are effective interventions that can significantly reduce the likelihood of HIV transmission from a mother to her baby. In 2011, 57 percent of pregnant women living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries received the medicines they needed to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, up from 45 percent in 2008 and 15 percent in 2005
(UNAIDS 2012).
EGPAF is working with national and multinational institutions – including the U.S. Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNAIDS, Ministries of Health and national governments, as well as other global organizations – to place the needs of women and children at the forefront of the global AIDS response, and to advocate for dramatic scale-up of PMTCT services where they are needed most.
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Improving Children’s Access to HIV Care and Treatment Worldwide
 Photo: Jon Hrusa |
In 2011, 3.4 million children under the age of 15 around the world were living with HIV – the majority without access to the lifesaving medicines they need to prevent illness and premature death
(UNAIDS 2012).
For thousands of HIV-positive children, the antiretroviral therapy (ART) needed to treat their infection is not readily accessible for a variety of reasons – often due to the complexity and limited availability of pediatric HIV testing, limited availability of pediatric drug formulations, or simply because heath workers are not adequately trained to treat children with HIV and AIDS.
EGPAF is committed to advocating for better access to care and treatment services for children and families living with and affected by HIV, and working with governments to ensure that HIV-positive children are diagnosed and identified early so that they can begin treatment quickly and lead longer, healthier lives.
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Country-by-Country Advocacy
EGPAF works with its country-based staff to develop in-country advocacy plans to support the scale-up and provision of PMTCT and pediatric care and treatment services. Our advocacy efforts seek to enhance the reach of these important HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs in the countries where we work and to raise awareness of pediatric HIV/AIDS issues among national policymakers, key decision makers, the media, and other partners.
EGPAF will continue working with national governments, multilateral institutions, and other partners to advocate for scale-up of PMTCT and pediatric care and treatment services to achieve the goal of reducing new global pediatric HIV infections by one-half between 2009 and 2013.
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