The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

TANZANIA: The Ariel Glaser Pediatric AIDS Healthcare Initiative (AGPAHI)

The Ariel Glaser Pediatric AIDS Healthcare Initiative (AGPAHI) works to eliminate pediatric AIDS and provide care and treatment for people living with HIV in Tanzania. AGPAHI implements innovative strategies to respond to the national HIV epidemic and to ensure access to sustainable health services for children, women, and families.

In collaboration with the government of Tanzania and partners including EGPAF, AGPAHI supports the provision of high-quality HIV services and ensures that efforts to reach the goal of the elimination of pediatric AIDS are well-integrated into existing provincial and district health systems.

Elizabeth and Ariel Glaser.
(Photo: EGPAF)

Ariel Glaser's Story

AGPAHI was named in honor of Ariel Glaser, the daughter of U.S. pediatric AIDS advocate Elizabeth Glaser. Elizabeth contracted HIV through a blood transfusion while giving birth to Ariel, and unknowingly passed the virus on to Ariel through breast milk. Ariel lost her battle with AIDS in 1988, and Elizabeth created the Pediatric AIDS Foundation to raise money for critical AIDS research for children. Elizabeth lost her own battle with AIDS in 1994, and to honor her legacy, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation was renamed the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF).

Before she passed away, Ariel created a painting of how she envisioned the world—as a beautiful garden kept bright with sunshine and surrounded by love. Her inspiration serves as EGPAF’s logo, and now as AGPAHI’s logo, representing hope for children everywhere.

(Photo: James Pursey)

HIV and AIDS in Tanzania

Approximately 1.4 million people are living with HIV in Tanzania. Of those, 160,000 are children under the age of 15 (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, 2010). AGPAHI is working to prevent new HIV infections in children and to provide treatment to those already living with the virus.

Where AGPAHI Works

AGPAHI currently leads HIV care and treatment activities at 41 sites in Shinyanga, a region in northern Tanzania, with plans for expansion of essential HIV services in other regions of the country.

AGPAHI’s Affiliation with EGPAF

AGPAHI is an independent organization developed with support from EGPAF. As partners, AGPAHI and EGPAF work collaboratively with the government of Tanzania to reach people with essential HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. AGPAHI receives technical assistance and guidance from EGPAF, but is an independent organization governed and led by citizens or permanent residents of Tanzania.

EGPAF developed AGPAHI and additional independent organizations in Côte d’Ivoire and Mozambique with an aim to increase access to high-quality HIV services and build local momentum and sustainable progress toward the elimination of pediatric AIDS.

Members of the EGPAF Senior Leadership Team join AGPAHI staff at the
AGPAHI launch ceremony in August 2011. (Photo: James Pursey)

Partners

The information described here was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and through the guidance and support of EGPAF and the Tanzania Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The contents are the responsibility of the Ariel Glaser Pediatric AIDS Healthcare Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CDC, the U.S. government, or other supporters.