On this World AIDS Day 2015, imagine if we had everything we needed — the tools, science, and shared goals — to reduce by 90 percent the number of women, men, and children newly infected by HIV.
Imagine the creation of an AIDS-free generation that eliminates HIV as a public health threat and where no one is left behind. Such a future, once inconceivable, is now possible. But we must seize the opportunity to reach it.
This is the moment for us to focus and implement programs that enable control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Today, we must stand together and demonstrate our collective resolve to meet the challenge we identified when we agreed to the new Global Goals: to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease.
Through PEPFAR, the U.S. Government has committed nearly $65 billion in order to support the HIV/AIDS response globally, including nearly $50 billion since the start of the Obama Administration.
In Rwanda, PEPFAR has invested more than $1 billion in more than ten years, beginning in 2004.
The agencies of the U.S. Embassy in Kigali who work with the people of Rwanda on these PEPFAR investments are very proud of the impressive results.
In partnership with the Government of Rwanda, PEPFAR currently supports more than 88,000 people in Rwanda living with HIV with life-saving anti retroviral therapy care and treatment and, in 2015, supported more than 1.5 million HIV testing and counseling sessions in Rwanda.
Additionally, in 2015, more than 4,000 pregnant women living with HIV in Rwanda received treatment to prevent HIV from being passed from mother to child through PEPFAR funding.
UNAIDS has recently recognized Rwanda’s achievement in the integrated maternal, neonatal, and child health services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, which have resulted in an impressive 88% reduction of new HIV infections among children since 2009.
Earlier this year, President Obama set a bold course for PEPFAR by announcing new HIV prevention and treatment targets for 2016 and 2017. By the end of 2017, PEPFAR globally will support 12.9 million people with life-saving HIV treatment and provide 13 million male circumcisions.
Globally, it is estimated that 41% of all adults living with HIV are accessing antiretroviral treatment. In Rwanda, in 2015, it is estimated that 75% of adults living with HIV are accessing live-saving antiretroviral treatment as a result of Rwanda’s national HIV program.
The results and the achievements of the HIV program in Rwanda have been remarkable; however, significant work remains. Achieving our goals will not be easy. We all know what we must do to achieve epidemic control.
Working in partnership, we have come a very long way since the darkest days of the epidemic, but the work is far from done. Together, we can create an AIDS-free generation where no one is left behind. But we must continue working together to make it happen.
UM– USEKE.RW
