Ed note: this post originally appeared on Dipnote, the State Department's official blog
Today, the Obama Administration issued the President's budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2013. It demonstrates that the United States remains fully committed to the fight against global AIDS, and will meet the President's ambitious targets for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention announced on World AIDS Day 2011. I am so proud that, even in a challenging budget environment with strict budget caps, the Administration has continued to make this work a priority.
This budget will enable PEPFAR to achieve the President's stated goals for the program, including on prevention and supporting 6 million people on treatment by the end of 2013. As we move towards creating an AIDS-free generation, President Obama and Secretary Clinton are focused on improving and saving lives — these outcomes are the most important metric of success. The results to date speak for themselves:
- We have more than doubled the number of individuals on lifesaving anti-retroviral treatment (nearly 4 million in FY 2011, up from 1.7 million in FY 2008).
- We averted 200,000 infant HIV infections in FY 2011, through increased commitment to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
- We supported care services for almost 13 million people (including 4 million orphans and vulnerable children) in FY 2011, a 55 percent increase from FY 2008.
Under this Administration, PEPFAR has matured. We've become more efficient, increasing the impact of our work. The FY 2013 request reflects this focus on finding efficiencies and continuing to drive down costs. By using generic drugs, shipping commodities more cheaply, task-shifting to nurses and community health workers as appropriate, and linking AIDS services to other programs (such as maternal and child health), we have dramatically decreased the per-patient cost of providing treatment and other services. We have reduced PEPFAR treatment costs per person from $1,100 to $335 per person and costs continue to fall — every dollar we invest is going farther.
The growth in country ownership of programs is another critical piece of the story. Middle income countries with PEPFAR programs have begun to increase their investments in health programs, further reducing our direct costs. South Africa is the leading example of a country that has ramped up its investment (now over $1 billion) and indicates that it will continue to do so — a key development, as it has the largest number of people living with HIV in the world.
Fonte: White House