2023 marks twenty years of PEPFAR, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Launched by President George W. Bush in 2003, PEPFAR has been a beacon of hope and compassion for millions of people living with or at-risk for HIV across the globe.  Thanks to the generosity of the American people, PEPFAR has helped save more than 25 million lives, and has committed to ending HIV/AIDS by 2030.

Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. government supports a comprehensive package of services to detect, initiate, and suppress the virus in people living with HIV.  PEPFAR works in close partnership with the Ministry of Health to strengthen laboratory systems, supply chain management, and strategic information collection, including health management information systems (HMIS).  PEPFAR-supported activities are implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services / Centers for Disease Control (CDC) with a budget of $106 million in 2023. CDC USAID

Over the last 20 years, PEPFAR has invested nearly $3 billion to support the HIV/AIDS response in Ethiopia. Since 2005, PEPFAR has provided lifesaving antiretroviral therapy (ART) for over 458,316 men, women, and children, which accounts for 98% of the treatment offered nationally at more than 1,000 sites. In 2022 alone, PEPFAR provided HIV testing and counseling services for nearly 2.7 million adults, and over 349,000 orphans and vulnerable children and their caretakers received crucial support through this initiative.

The progress seen in Ethiopia shows the government’s commitment to achieving epidemic control.  PEPFAR also works with civil society organizations and key stakeholders such as UNAIDS, the Global Fund, and the World Health Organization to strengthen health systems, monitor the epidemic, improve service delivery models, and ensure program sustainability to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.