While the debate among legislators continues regarding PEPFAR reauthorization, HPTN principal investigators Dr. Myron Cohen and Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr offer their thoughts in a Science editorial.
PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, enabled by strong bipartisan support across ten U.S. congresses and four presidential administrations and through the American people's generosity.
Since PEPFAR's inception in 2003, the U.S. government has invested more than $100 billion (USD) in the global HIV/AIDS response, saving more than 25 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and supporting several countries to achieve HIV epidemic control, all while significantly strengthening global health and economic security.