PEPFAR

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has finally been reauthorized for another five years, and it’s time to hold the United States accountable for its work.  It’s pretty clear that, under PEPFAR, the rights of women and young people are ignored.  The many strings attached to its plan undermine the needs of women and young people and their ability to have ownership over their own reproductive and sexual health. 

One of the most harmful pieces within PEPFAR II is the requirement that the State Department report to Congress any time a country with a generalized epidemic expends less than 50 percent of its funds to prevent sexual transmission of HIV on abstinence, delay of sexual debut, monogamy, fidelity, or partner reduction.  Evidence from best practices indicates that a comprehensive prevention strategy that also includes education about condoms and harm reduction are critical to achieving a substantial reduction in new infections.   read more »

The XVII International AIDS Conference set a precedent. The United States AIDS epidemic was contextualized within the larger global epidemic unlike ever before. The new statistics revealing the disparities regarding HIV incidence rates were presented alongside protesters who reminded us that the U.S. has no national AIDS strategy. The authoritative report released by the Black AIDS Institute, Left Behind (Black America: A neglected priority in the global AIDS epidemic) added fuel to the fire. The United States health disparities were squarely placed on the international stage for all to judge.

The world watched, listened and made some recommendations. At a regional dialogue, where thirty women of the Global North and South met to discuss solidarity, more than one woman from the Global South mentioned the unique opportunity the United States has to learn from the PEPFAR recipients.

These comments resonated deeply with me. The thought of the United States actually learning from the countries it is trying to help reflects a massive opportunity to build transnational solidarity. PEPFAR recipient countries have been engaged in scaling-up national AIDS programs in difficult circumstances that have much to teach about how you implement a national AIDS strategy.

The question is: will we listen? And more importantly, who will be at the table deciding?  read more »

Young people --predominantly young women -- make up 40% of new HIV infections worldwide (UNAIDS, 2007). And during a workshop session on August 2 for the Youth Pre-Conference, young men and women proved that they are capable of making sound policy recommendations when it comes to their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

I co-facilitated a workshop session entitled Understanding Public Policy, with Brian Ackerman of Advocates for Youth and Andrew Francis of Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network. We led an exercise where young participants deconstructed proposed legislation, U.S. global AIDS policy, and ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful, and Use Condoms) policy guidance distributed by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator. Afterwards, the participants broke out into groups to develop sound policy recommendations based on that deconstruction for presentation to lawmakers and governments responsible for overseeing the implementation of global AIDS policy through programs and services.  read more »

As top CDC officials arrive today in Mexico City, U.S. activists and their allies are eagerly preparing to confront policymakers to hold them accountable for the worsening HIV epidemic in the U.S.  read more »

Activists will gather today, August 6, at 4:00 pm (CST) outside of the Media Center, and then will march to, and disrupt, the U.S. HIV epidemic session in order to issue an “F” report card to the speakers.

by Annelies Mesman, youth rapporteur and CHOICE board member, and Vanessa Brocato

“Universal Action Now!”— more than 300 young people from around the world gathered for 3 days before the International AIDS Conference to empower each other to move beyond rhetoric to concrete action.  As part of Mexico YouthForce, young leaders led discussions on not only HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care but also the range of sexual and reproductive health and rights and social justice issues that intersect with and complicate responses to AIDS.

“Hope is here.  Adults don’t know the challenges we are facing; they are guessing.  You can never be successful if you design any program for young people without them.  This is for all the adults here: Let the Mexico YouthForce speak!” said Igor Mocorro, a 21 year old from the Philippines.

Prior to this event, 125 young people from 46 countries worked together, communicating virtually, to create key messages of the Mexico YouthForce.  Throughout the Banamex, posters will carry the following resulting slogans:

•    Rights: we have a right to comprehensive, accurate information and services to protect our sexual health.
•    Respect: for our realities, our experiences, and our contributions.  read more »

Today, President Bush is likely to re-authorize PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). As it stands, PEPFAR contains a provision that removes a 15-year statutory ban on the entry of people with HIV/AIDS into the United States, a discriminatorily restrictive policy for HIV positive immigrants and travelers. Many advocates are hailing the provision as a significant achievement in immigrant justice. Dr. Nancy Ordover, founder of the Coalition to the Lift the Bar and member of the International Task Team on HIV-related Travel Restrictions, attests, "Two and half years ago, we were told it couldn't be done. We were told to abandon HIV positive immigrants and focus on extending waiver options for short-term travelers with HIV. We rejected that division, and I believe that our adherence to human rights and social justice principles is what got us this far."

But How Far Have We Really Come?  read more »