US To Expand Global AIDS Care, Prevention

The US hopes to add a million and a half people to its program for AIDS relief and expand prevention programs, US officials said today at a news conference ahead of World AIDS Day Dec 1.

Under the PEPFAR—president’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief—2.5 million people already get medical care and treatment and the aim is to increase that to 4 million says Ambassador Eric Goosby, the US Global Aids Coordinator at the State Department.

Goosby believes the experience and success gained from the work PREPFAR has initiated over the past 8 years has helped humanitarian actors efficiently manage the funds at their disposal and expand the scope of their work.  He says smalls changes like switching the distribution systems from air to ground transport or cooperating with the FDA to increase the amount of affordable generic drugs available have freed up millions of dollars that can now be better used to carry out  hands-on high impact interventions, such as an aggressive prevention programs.

“Better understanding where the new seroconversions are and then positioning our prevention interventions in front of those expanding movements of the virus through that population is a central piece of every prevention strategy and at the core of all of our prevention programs.” said Goosby.