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PEPFAR Has Saved 20 Million Lives and Advanced HIV Gains Despite COVID-19 [1]

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Date: 2022-10 

Data show that several PEPFAR-supported countries have achieved HIV epidemic control and UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets

On World AIDS Day 2020, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) announced its latest annual program results, showing that the program has saved 20 million lives, supported several countries to achieve HIV epidemic control, and significantly strengthened global health security.

As of September 30, 2020, PEPFAR supports 17.2 million men, women, and children with life-saving antiretroviral therapy—50 percent more than just four years ago. The program continues to prevent millions of HIV infections through comprehensive interventions, including those enabling babies to be born HIV-free to mothers living with HIV, empowering adolescent girls and young women, innovating to reach young men, and serving key populations at higher risk for HIV infection.

“Our latest results continue the living legacy of PEPFAR’s transformative impact,” said Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and U.S. Special Representatives for Global Health Diplomacy. “With strong bipartisan support, PEPFAR continues to make the world safer and more secure from HIV and other health threats. Our deep commitment to achieving inclusive, resilient, and sustainable control of the HIV epidemic is as strong as ever.”

Through smart investments and policy changes driven under the PEPFAR Strategy for Accelerating HIV/AIDS Epidemic Control (2017-2020), several PEPFAR-supported countries have achieved HIV epidemic control, a goal that appeared unimaginable even a decade ago. A series of countries have also attained or exceeded the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 90-90-90 targets, a critical milestone toward reaching the Sustainable Development goal target of ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

PEPFAR’s latest results demonstrate both the remarkable life-saving impact of the program and its unmatched capacity to protect and advance HIV gains even in the face of severe adversity, such as with the COVID-19 pandemic. PEPFAR’s support for more than 3,000 laboratories, 28 national reference laboratories, 70,000 health care facilities, and the training of nearly 290,000 health care workers has helped build an enduring, responsive, and resilient health care delivery capacity, which countries can leverage for pandemic response and global health security.

With the generosity of the American people and sustained bipartisan support across U.S. presidents and U.S. congresses, PEPFAR has helped transform the global AIDS response. Thanks to two decades of U.S. government global AIDS leadership, some of the first babies born HIV-free with PEPFAR support are now starting college. Millions of parents living with HIV have been healthy to nurture, protect, and teach their children along their journey to adulthood. Countless aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and friends are still alive to enrich the next generation with their wisdom, support, and love. In short, the global HIV epidemic has moved from crisis toward control.

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[1] Url: https://2017-2021.state.gov/pepfar-has-saved-20-million-lives-and-advanced-hiv-gains-despite-covid-19/

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