Giving Compass' Take:

· The Council on Foreign Relations reports that President Trump is looking to weaken PEPFAR and other global health security programs in the near future. While an AIDS-free generation is said to be within reach, that will disappear when support and funding is cut.

· PEPFAR has been one of the most important global health initiatives ever launched. How will a cut in funding and support weaken the world's ability to fight HIV and AIDS?

· Read more about the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

On May 27, 2003, the U.S. Congress appropriated $15 billion for a five-year plan to tackle the HIV/AIDS pandemic, heeding President George W. Bush’s call in his State of the Union address for a “work of mercy” for HIV/AIDS victims in Africa and the Caribbean. This legislation launched the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, the largest commitment ever made by any country to fight a disease.

Accolades for PEPFAR on its fifteenth anniversary celebrate what it has achieved, particularly its success in increasing the number of people on lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Without it, hopes for ending HIV/AIDS as a global threat within the next fifteen years would be inconceivable. The program’s impact places it in the pantheon of iconic U.S. policy efforts, such as the Marshall Plan and the Apollo space program.

PEPFAR’s success makes it hard to recall how unexpected and unprecedented the plan originally was. That the United States, led by a conservative president and Republican-controlled Congress, would—amid a war on terror, an invasion of Iraq, and an epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)—launch a foreign assistance program of such ambition was stunning. Its creation was a black swan for global health and one of the most significant moments in the history of global health policy.

However, PEPFAR’s impact is fading, and the program is no longer the major catalyst for the fight against HIV/AIDS. With international assistance stagnating, HIV infections and untreated AIDS cases appear set to surge. PEPFAR has not supported robust contributions in other global health areas, including global health security. Ominously, President Donald J. Trump has sought to weaken it and other global health security programs. The bold, bipartisan leadership that produced and guided the program is breaking down, and rearguard actions are needed just to preserve the status quo. PEPFAR’s future in global health has never been more uncertain.

Read the full article about PEPFAR’s help with the HIV/AIDS epidemic by David P. Fidler at Council on Foreign Relations