Today, December 1, is World AIDS Day. USAID has proudly served as a key implementer of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for nearly 20 years. As we have moved from an emergency response to one focused on achieving sustained epidemic control, we reflect today on the lives that have been lost as a result of the HIV epidemic and acknowledge the progress we have made in the fight against HIV.
We know that achieving HIV epidemic control requires that all people have equal access to HIV treatment and services. In support of PEPFAR’s Five-Year Strategy: Fulfilling America’s Promise to End the HIV/AIDS Pandemic by 2030, USAID, in partnership with key stakeholders and partner countries, will employ a ‘whole of Agency’ approach to HIV and optimized programming, using our expertise in the broader development landscape to continue leading the HIV response to reach epidemic control.
USAID, through PEPFAR, supports partner countries and communities to ensure that all people have equitable access to life-saving HIV prevention and treatment services.
In 2022 USAID:
- Initiated almost 230 thousand members of key populations and almost 277 thousand adolescent girls and young women on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) during the last year, expanding effective HIV prevention to key and priority populations.
- Supported almost two million members of key populations, including sex workers, transgender people, men who have sex with men, and people who inject drugs, with HIV prevention services and supportive interventions.
- Provided integrated gender-based violence clinical services in 23 countries, including post-violence care services for almost 430 thousand survivors, with local partners delivering the majority of care (85%).
- Supported over 5.8 million orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their families affected by HIV. Services provided to OVC families included household economic strengthening, education support, building of parenting skills, facilitating access to maternal and child healthcare, and HIV specific testing, care, and treatment.
Together with our partners, and the global HIV community, USAID will continue to provide coordinated, equitable, and innovative programming to end HIV as a public health threat by 2030.