U.S. Department of State [archived]

In advance of World AIDS Day 2018, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo will deliver keynote remarks at the PEPFAR Faith Communities and HIV Technical Summit at the Department of State at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, November 27, 2018. Watch the event live on www.state.gov.

The Secretary will announce the latest lifesaving results achieved under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including additional progress that is being made under the PEPFAR Strategy for Accelerating HIV/AIDS Epidemic Control (2017-2020). Visit www.pepfar.gov to learn more.

Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic 35 years ago, we have made tremendous progress to address HIV/AIDS in Africa and around the world with far greater urgency and action. However, there is still much work to be done. On World AIDS Day 2016, join us in honoring the progress we have made together, and in reaffirming our shared commitment to ending the epidemic by 2030

Today is World AIDS Day. Trace the history of the #HIV #AIDS epidemic and response.

On World AIDS Day, we come together as a global community to honor the many lives we have lost, and to reaffirm our support for the millions of individuals and families who are still living with and affected by HIV/AIDS around the world.

— U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

(Source: state.gov)

Where are we in the global fight against AIDS? Find out in a live Google+ Hangout with Ambassador Eric Goosby on PEPFAR and the battle against HIV. Follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #AIDSFreeGen and submit your questions now on Google+ at http://goo.gl/AXZZC. Watch the hangout live on Thursday June 20 on Google+ or the State Dept Youtube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/statevideo.

PEPFAR: Ten Years of Saving Millions of Lives

At the time that PEPFAR was conceived of and then established during the George W. Bush administration, the world was witnessing first-hand the destruction of an entire generation of individuals in the prime years of their lives and the reversal of remarkable health and development gains, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and to a lesser extent in other developing nations. Rates of new HIV infections were rising rapidly, and hospitals, communities, and families were often too under-resourced and overwhelmed to cope with the enormity of this burden. At that time in 2003, despite the availability of life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in most countries in the developed world, in southern Africa and other regions of the developing world, an HIV diagnosis meant a virtual death sentence, since few had access to such drugs.

Today, as we mark the 10th anniversary of PEPFAR, the situation has changed dramatically. MORE

(Source: blogs.state.gov)

World Tuberculosis Day: Confronting TB/HIV Co-Infection

A tuberculosis patient takes medicines at Directly Observed Treatment Short-course, run by non-government organization Navirman Samaj Vikas Kendra, on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, Jan. 16, 2012. [AP File Photo]

About the Author: Ambassador Eric Goosby serves as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and leads the Office of Global Health Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State.

This Sunday, March 24, is World Tuberculosis (TB) Day. Around the world, countries will mark the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacterium that causes TB. Since the 1980s, this day has also served as a rallying call to raise public awareness and recommit political will toward eliminating the disease.

Today, TB is the leading cause of death among people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa-accounting for 1,000 lives lost each day. Given this enormous human toll, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) continues to address the deadly links between TB and HIV as a top policy and programmatic priority.

In November 2012,… more »

(Source: blogs.state.gov)

Using Research To Shape an Effective Response to HIV/AIDS in Swaziland

A relaxed client undergoes adult male circumcision for HIV prevention in a joint Jerusalem AIDS Project - Family Life Association of Swaziland collaborative initiative, 2007, Dr. Inon Schenker/Jerusalem AIDS Project, Courtesy of Photoshare/ PRNewsFoto/Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center. [AP File Photo]

About the Author: Makila James serves as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Swaziland.

World AIDS Day in Swaziland has a particularly profound meaning, as Swaziland has the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world. The recent PEPFAR-supported Swaziland Health Incidence Measurement Survey (SHIMS) – the first such comprehensive survey of its kind on the impact of key HIV prevention programs – indicates that 31 percent of the adult population is living with HIV. It is a staggering number and one that all persons working in the health field in Swaziland has at the forefront of their minds each and every day as they participate in the national fight against the disease. Without a doubt, achieving an AIDS-free generation represents a serious challenge in the Kingdom of Swaziland, but one that we are committed to addressing with our many partners in the country.

The United States government is working… more »

(Source: blogs.state.gov)

HIV Prevention in Bangladesh

Kajol, a former sex worker and now a HIV prevention counselor at USAID's Modhumita project, works to raise awareness among other commercial sex workers in Dhaka, November 14, 2012. [Photo Courtesy of Fhi360 Bangladesh/ Used by Permission]

About the Authors: Monjur Ahmed serves as Project Management Assistant for Communication in USAID/Bangladesh’s Office of Population, Health, Nutrition and Education, and Linda Quamar serves as Development Outreach and Communication Assistant in the USAID/Bangladesh Program Office.

Kajol, like many other young women from rural Bangladesh, came to Dhaka in search of employment. With the false promise of employment, she was abducted and forced into the sex trade. Later, Kajol came across one of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) HIV Prevention peer educators and was encouraged to leave her profession to pursue “a different life which would offer her acceptance and respect in the society.” Presently, Kajol works as a trainer for commercial sex workers (CSW) in USAID's… more »

(Source: blogs.state.gov)

Turning the Tide Against AIDS in Zimbabwe

Dan Rutz, former CNN senior medical reporter and current Associate Director of Communication Science Dan Rutz of National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), poses for a photograph with the Women Journalist Mentoring Program participants during a breakfast session he offered to them while in Zimbabwe on November 6, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

About the Author: Megan Petersen servers as the PEPAR Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe.

As we approach World AIDS Day, which we mark on December 1, I wanted to share a little bit about how we are carrying out the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Zimbabwe.

Every Tuesday morning, the Zimbabwe PEPFAR team gathers. Our meeting consists of colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the embassy’s public affairs section, the Global Fund, the Deputy Chief of Mission, and the PEPFAR Coordinator’s office. Our discussions are focused on the state of the world through the lens of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe.

I am always impressed every Tuesday by the passion and expertise each of my colleagues brings to the table, the variety of programs we are managing on… more »

(Source: blogs.state.gov)

Posts tagged with ‘HIV’

PEPFAR: Ten Years of Saving Millions of Lives

World Tuberculosis Day: Confronting TB/HIV Co-Infection

Using Research To Shape an Effective Response to HIV/AIDS in Swaziland

HIV Prevention in Bangladesh

Turning the Tide Against AIDS in Zimbabwe