PEPFAR Returns to Common Sense HIV Prevention

Good news! On World AIDS Day we wrote about the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has long relied on the ineffective ABC (abstinence, be faithful, and as a last resort use condoms) program as a means to prevent HIV and AIDS. Thanks to the tireless work of human rights activists around the world, the State Department announced major positive changes to PEPFAR this week!

This new plan includes a shift away from ABC and towards scientific, common sense methods, integrating "HIV prevention, care and support, and treatment services with family planning and reproductive health services, so that women living with HIV can access necessary care, and so that all women know how to protect themselves from HIV infection." PEPFAR will now emphasize condom distribution and safe sex, a proven method of HIV prevention.

This is tremendous news for feminists everywhere, as women make up approximately half of all people living with HIV worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, women make up an estimated 57% of adults living with HIV, and three quarters of young people living with disease there are young women aged 15-24.

As you observe International Human Rights Day on December 10, celebrate this victory! There is always more work to be done and we thank you for your tireless efforts in support of women around the world.

In Honor of World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day.

Around the world, women continue to be denied their basic human rights: violence against women, poverty, lack of access to education and basic health care services. This denial makes women more susceptible to HIV/AIDS.

A few weeks ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a landmark study which identifies "AIDS-related illnesses as the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age in low and middle income countries, particularly in [Sub-Saharan] Africa."

The report also stated that around the world, unsafe sex is the single leading risk factor contributing to deaths among women of reproductive age.

Women make up approximately half of all people living with HIV worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, women make up an estimated 57% of adults living with HIV, and three quarters of young people living with disease there are young women aged 15-24.

The US, the largest funder to global health programs, has a $48 billion dollar AIDS initiative called PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) which notoriously promotes the ABC (abstinence, be faithful, and as a last resort use condoms) prevention program in Africa.

This has widely been proven to be an ineffective strategy in preventing HIV/AIDS transmissions. It is harmful and simply does not work. The ABC program places condom distribution and usage, which is the most effective barrier method against the disease, at a low priority.

Moreover, to change US policies which needlessly harm women and girls around the world, we must take action!

Here is what you can do:

• Raise awareness on the emphasis of ineffective abstinence and fidelity prevention programs in PEPFAR.
• Educate your campus about its harmful impact on young women.
• Demand that the US change its policy to promote safe sex practices, access to comprehensive reproductive health and rights services, and sex education.
  

Take Action on World AIDS Day, and every day, to save women's lives around the world.

The Gates Show Us Living Proof

Here at the Feminist Majority Foundation, we think every day of how to make issues of global health accessible, relatable and probably most difficult, human for our student groups across the country. Usually people think there is nothing they can do to make a difference. Even if the connection is made between how important US investments to global health are, more often than not, we never see the human faces US sponsored programs impact on the ground.

Well, the Gates are trying to change all that. Bill and Melinda Gates have just launched "The Living Proof Project: U.S. Investments In Global Health Are Working." Take a few minutes and watch their "Why We Are Impatient Optimists" webcast. Join the global health movement today, and as Gandhi would say, start being the change you want to see in the world.