Statement by National Security Advisor Susan Rice
We
are at a pivotal moment in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Globally,
both new HIV infections and AIDS related deaths are down by more than
40 percent since their
peak. This Administration has invested nearly $50 billion through the
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to achieve an
AIDS-free generation, building on the initiative and $15 billion
provided by President Bush. Working with partner countries
around the globe, we are now supporting life-saving antiretroviral
treatment for 7.7 million men, women, and children worldwide; enabled
more than one million babies to be born HIV-free; and tested and
counseled more than 14 million pregnant women last year
alone.
Today, we are setting a bold, new course by announcing ambitious PEPFAR prevention and treatment targets for 2016 and 2017.
The
United States is committing resources to ensure PEPFAR will by the end
of 2017 support 12.9 million people on life-saving anti-retroviral
treatment, provide 13 million
male circumcisions for HIV prevention, and reduce HIV incidence by 40
percent among adolescent girls and young women within the highest
burdened areas of 10 sub-Saharan African countries.
No
greater action is needed right now than empowering adolescent girls and
young women to defeat HIV/AIDS. Every year, 380,000 adolescent girls
and young women are infected
with HIV—7,300 every week, over 1,000 every day. This must change.
Today,
we are announcing that PEPFAR is now investing nearly half a billion
dollars to support an AIDS-free future for adolescent girls and young
women.
This
includes strategically aligning $300 million in additional HIV
prevention investments with the PEPFAR-led DREAMS partnership, which
will ensure that adolescent girls
and young women have an opportunity to live Determined, Resilient,
Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe lives. This investment builds
on $210 million that PEPFAR and private partners committed to DREAMS on
World AIDS Day 2014.
Over
the last 15 years, we have seen remarkable results as we have worked
together toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. PEPFAR’s
new targets and investments
come at a critical time as we transition from the Millennium
Development Goals to meet the challenge before us in the new Sustainable
Development Goals: to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
We
believe if we all – governments, the private sector, civil society,
including faith-based organizations – bring our collective will and
energy together we can achieve
an AIDS-free generation and bring this epidemic to a halt.
Source: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary
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