Eliminating HIV as a Global Public Health Threat | VitalSigns

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, was announced in 2003. One year later, PEPFAR began efforts to expand treatment for people with HIV. Effective HIV treatment helps those with HIV live longer, healthier lives. It can prevent transmission of the virus to sexual partners and helps reduce the risk of transmission from mothers to children. This, in turn, reduces new infections overall. As a result, increasing access to effective HIV treatment is critical to efforts to eliminate HIV as a global public health threat.

Since 2004, PEPFAR’s efforts to scale up HIV treatment have transformed the global HIV epidemic and saved millions of lives. The number of people with HIV receiving lifesaving treatment through PEPFAR increased an astonishing 300 times from just 66,500 people in 2004 to more than 20 million people in 2022.

Between 2015 and 2022, the percentage of people receiving HIV treatment through PEPFAR who had a viral load test and were virally suppressed also increased from 80% to 95%. Virally suppressed refers to people who, thanks to treatment, have their virus under control.

When it was launched, PEPFAR became the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history. At the time, HIV was a global crisis, devastating families, communities, and economies worldwide—particularly in sub-Saharan African countries.

In many countries around the world, lack of access to lifesaving HIV treatment and weak health systems meant that an HIV diagnosis almost certainly led to death.

As the lead public health agency of PEPFAR, CDC plays a critical role in fighting the global HIV epidemic in more than 50 countries. CDC brings more than 30 years’ experience and a combination of scientific and technical expertise to bear in the fight against one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. In fact, today, CDC and its governmental and non-governmental partners support the majority (62%) of all people on PEPFAR-supported HIV treatment.

PEPFAR’s work to strengthen health systems around the globe is also helping countries respond not only to HIV but to other public health crises, such as COVID-19, improving our overall global health security. CDC has been at the forefront of these efforts, maximizing our long-standing relationships with ministries of health and local partners, strengthening laboratory systems, training and supporting health care workers, and enhancing disease monitoring systems as part of PEPFAR. As a result, these efforts are helping countries respond to their HIV epidemics while also preparing them for future health threats.

Moving forward, as part of PEPFAR’s five-year strategy, the United States aims to eliminate HIV as a global public health threat by 2030. This work is far from done.

To achieve this 2030 goal, the global health community must:

• Sustain efforts to drive down new HIV infections and deaths among all affected populations,
• Reduce inequities that prevent access to lifesaving HIV services, and
• Strengthen the public health systems that help make the world a safer place for us all.