The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was
signed into law 22 years ago this week – and the program has a track record of success. PEPFAR has saved 26 million lives and allowed nearly 8 million babies to be born HIV-free since its founding 20 years ago. And now the finish line is in sight. The U.S. has the tools to fulfill PEPFAR’s mission and get the job done, while transitioning to country ownership of HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention over the next several years.
As I recently outlined in an
article for the Bush Institute, there are three key considerations for PEPFAR, Congress, and the administration to be successful in this transition:
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PEPFAR must work with indigenous community partners, governments, and the private sector to establish data-driven, country-specific HIV screening and treatment targets.
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PEPFAR should develop a tiered transition strategy based upon country progress toward eliminating HIV/AIDS as a public health threat in order to regularly adjust programming and investments.
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PEPFAR should draft binding country compacts that link funding to specific results validated through community surveys. These steps will ensure that countries can take over the lifesaving work of PEPFAR without reversing decades of progress achieved alongside the United States.
Abruptly cutting off PEPFAR's funding before this transition is complete would not only risk millions of lives that currently depend on PEPFAR for HIV treatment and care, but it would also undercut decades of American investment and cede ground to Russia and China.
If we want to fulfill PEPFAR’s mission, we need to simultaneously ensure that the millions who rely on it today are still getting the treatment they need and make concrete plans to transition to long-term country ownership.
