The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief Releases Third Annual Report To Congress: The Power Of Partnerships

Washington, DC – According to the latest information released today in The Power of Partnerships: The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Third Annual Report to Congress, partnerships between host nations and the American people through President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR/Emergency Plan) are beginning to turn the tide of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

“The majority of PEPFAR’s resources are being invested directly in partnerships with host nations. By working with host nations to build quality health care networks and increase capacity, we are laying the foundation for nations and communities to sustain their efforts against HIV/AIDS and other diseases long after the initial five years of the Emergency Plan,” said Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.

In fiscal year (FY) 2006, 83 percent of Emergency Plan partners were local organizations, which support more than 15,000 project sites for prevention, treatment and care. Just three years into the Emergency Plan, through the end of FY2006, PEPFAR has partnered with host nations to support antiretroviral treatment for approximately 822,000 people in the 15 focus nations, as well as 165,100 people elsewhere in the developing world, for a total of 987,100 people receiving HIV/AIDS treatment worldwide.

The Emergency Plan supports the most comprehensive, evidence-based prevention program in the world, targeting interventions based on the epidemiology of HIV infection in each country. PEPFAR supports prevention activities that focus on sexual transmission, mother-to-child transmission, the transmission of HIV through unsafe blood and medical injections, and greater HIV awareness through counseling and testing. In focus countries during FY2006, approximately 61.5 million people were reached by community outreach programs promoting Abstinence, Being faithful, and Correct and consistent use of Condoms (ABC), and other related prevention strategies. The U.S. Government has supplied 1.3 billion condoms worldwide from 2004 to 2006, lending support to comprehensive ABC approaches based on the epidemiology of each country.

In partnership with host nations, the Emergency Plan has supported prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission during approximately 6 million pregnancies to date. Of these, PEPFAR supported antiretroviral prophylaxis for HIV-positive women during 533,700 pregnancies, averting an estimated 101,500 infant HIV infections to date. In FY2006, PEPFAR supported 3,846 blood safety service outlets, and supported the training or retraining of 6,600 people in blood safety and 52,100 people in medical injection safety.

Only comprehensive responses that address the full range of HIV/AIDS-related challenges will fully enable nations to move from despair to hope. The Emergency Plan is committed to supporting nations in developing comprehensive responses that address the many impacts of HIV/AIDS. Through FY2006, PEPFAR supported care for nearly 4.5 million people around the world, including care for approximately 2 million orphans and vulnerable children, in addition to care for nearly 2.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS.

“While impressive results are reported in PEPFAR’s Third Annual Report, they are not fundamentally the work of Americans. They are the work of courageous people in nations devastated by HIV/AIDS who are saving the lives of their countrymen and women,” Dybul explained. “The American people are proud to be working in partnership with the people of the world in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Every day through the powerful partnership between our countries, we are learning new best practices that are benefiting the entire world in the battle against this disease.”

The U.S. Government is the global leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Emergency Plan is on track to exceed its original commitment of $15 billion over five years. By the end of FY2008, the American people will have invested $18.3 billion in this global fight.

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease – a five year, $15 billion, comprehensive approach to combating HIV/AIDS around the world. For more information about PEPFAR or its Third Annual Report to Congress: The Power of Partnerships, please visit www.PEPFAR.gov. For a summary the Emergency Plan’s latest results, please see http://www.pepfar.gov/about/c19785.htm. For updated PEPFAR focus country profiles, please visit http://www.pepfar.gov/press/c19558.htm.