The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

Public-Private Partnerships (Updated January 2009)


The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) seeks to develop public-private partnerships (PPPs) to bring HIV/AIDS interventions to scale, enhance the effectiveness of programs, and fully integrate the initiative into the future health and development plans of partner countries. PEPFAR defines public-private partnerships as collaborative endeavors that combine resources from the public sector with resources from the private sector to accomplish the goals of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care.

The Power of Partnership:

PPPs bring outside resources to bear on areas of local need. PPPs contribute to the fight against HIV/AIDS by:

  • Ensuring sustainability of programs by enhancing the skills and capacities of local organizations, and by increasing the public’s access to the unique expertise and core competencies of the private sector;
  • Facilitating scale-up of proven, cost-effective interventions through private sector networks and associations;
  • Expanding the reach of interventions by accessing target populations in their milieu (e.g., through workplace programs); and
  • Sharing program costs and promoting synergy in programs. Additionally, partners contribute in-kind contributions that otherwise would be beyond the reach of implementers.

PPPs enable the U.S. Government (USG) and private sector entities to maximize their efforts through jointly-defined objectives, program design and implementation. These mutually-beneficial arrangements enhance local and international capacity to deliver high-quality health services and prevention programs, and leverage the core competencies of each sector to multiply their impact.

Potential private sector partners include a wide range of organizations: U.S. and non-U.S. private businesses, multinational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, business and trade associations, labor unions, foundations, and philanthropic leaders, including venture capitalists. PEPFAR engages the private sector in various ways, and many countries are actively and creatively pursuing this objective.


Future directions for Public-Private Partnerships

PEPFAR is leading an unprecedented scale-up of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, but the work of the USG alone is not enough. Much more must be done in collaboration with the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and people living with HIV/AIDS. PEPFAR recognizes that broader partnerships – with multilateral organizations such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria or the World Bank’s Multi-Country AIDS Programme (MAP) – are viable options in areas where all entities are working towards common goals. Additionally, there is potential to engage other developed-country governments in PEPFAR’s current and future partnerships.

PEPFAR at Work

The following examples illustrate the diversity of PEPFAR’s PPPs in support of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care programs:

  • Promoting HIV Prevention through Zambia’s Tourism Industry – The USG, in partnership with Sun Hotel International and the Livingstone Tourist Lodge Association, will host a series of music and artistic performance events that call for social and behavioral change to reduce sexual transmission of HIV. The event will include mobile counseling and testing services, HIV information booths, and educational materials. Additionally, Sun Hotel will provide a training facility for all HIV/AIDS-related training to the tourism industry, free of charge.
  • Expanding Treatment and Care through Sugar Companies in Kenya – The U.S. Government has partnered with the Kenya Medical Research Institute and four sugar companies in the Migori and Nyando districts of Kenya to expand HIV treatment and care. Sony, Chemelil, Muhoroni and Miwani sugar companies provide health care services for approximately 16,000 workers, their families, and community residents, totaling approximately 60,000 people. This partnership will increase the number of patients on antiretroviral treatment in this population from 274 to 600, and will create an enabling environment for long term prevention, treatment and care.
  • Building Human Capacity through Pfizer – To strengthen skills and build capacity of local partners, the USG has partnered with Pfizer’s Global Health Fellows program. The partnership places Pfizer Fellows in health care settings in PEPFAR’s focus countries. For example, one Pfizer fellow provided financial expertise to the Mothers to Mothers to Be (M2M2B) prevention of mother-to-child transmission program in Cape Town, South Africa. This contribution supported M2M2B in opening 15 new sites, and plans are under way for 17 more.
  • Harnessing the Power of Play for Safe Water and HIV Prevention – Through PEPFAR and USAID, the USG has partnered with PlayPumps™ International, the Case Foundation, and other private sector partners to form the $60 million PlayPump Alliance. The USG’s $10 million contribution will support the installation of PlayPump water systems in approximately 650 schools, health centers, and HIV-affected areas in 10 sub-Saharan African countries, bringing the benefits of clean drinking water to up to 10 million people by 2010.
  • Scaling Up Pediatric HIV/AIDS Treatment – PEPFAR’s Pediatric AIDS Public-Private Partnership seeks to overcome major barriers to scaling up pediatric HIV treatment. The partnership brings departments and agencies across the USG together with six innovator and five generic pharmaceutical companies, UNAIDS, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and the Clinton Foundation. The partnership aims to expand the number of pediatric antiretroviral treatment formulations, improve forecasting and supply of antiretroviral treatment, coordinate provider education and training, and expedite drug registration.
  • Training Prevention Programs in the Workplace – Working with a U.S. Department of Labor-funded workplace education program, PepsiCo India has trained 60 Master Trainers to address HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Trainers in four regions received a Master Trainer/Peer Educator Manual, the PepsiCo HIV/AIDS Policy, a card game, key presentation materials, posters, and red ribbons which they will use to educate employees about HIV/AIDS. The Master Trainers then held a series of awareness programs to educate employees, during which they enlisted more than 350 volunteers for a peer educator program. The program is now being developed to reach workers in the PepsiCo supply chains, and to set up effective links with antiretroviral treatment centers.

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