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US National security adviser, Susan Rice, announced a plan aiming to provide antiretroviral treatment to 12.9 million people by the end of 2017. This plan implies disbursing the sum of $300m with the objective to reduce HIV infection among girls and young women in 10 sub-Saharan African countries.
Eliminating HIV by 2030
One of UNAIDS’ goals is to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Susan Rice believes that this goal will be attainable if the problem is properly addressed:
“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,” Rice told the press.
At the present time, The President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), a program launched by George Bush in 2003, works with 65 partner countries and provides antiretroviral medicine to 7.7 million people worldwide. So far, the US administration invested $50 billion. According to Rice, PEPFAR aims to “provide 13 million male circumcisions for HIV prevention, and reduce HIV incidence by 40% among adolescent girls and young women within the highest burdened areas of 10 sub-Saharan African countries.“
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The countries the program will focus on are Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The news was announced at a critical time as countries are adopting a set of global goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda proposed at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit.
