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At the 19th International AIDS
Conference in Washington on Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
pledged additional funding for a number of overseas initiatives toward the goal
of what she called “an AIDS-free generation.” The Obama administration late
last year called for boosting efforts to eliminate mother-to-child (MTC) HIV
infections, reducing the risk of HIV infection among adults, and ensuring
treatment access.
“We will not back off, we will not
back down, we will fight for the resources necessary to achieve this historic
milestone,” Clinton told attendees.
The United States added 600,000
people over a six-month period this fiscal year to the number of patients
receiving antiretroviral therapy in poor countries, Clinton said. That is up
from 700,000 added in all of fiscal 2011, she said. The United States is
treating about half of all developing-world patients receiving ARVs, and is on
target to provide them to 6 million people by the end of 2013.
Of the $157 million in additional
funding announced, $80 million will go toward eliminating MTC infections by
2015, with a focus of reaching mothers in remote areas, Clinton said. Another
$40 million will be used to ratchet-up medical male circumcisions in South
Africa, offering the procedure to nearly half-a-million men and boys over the
next year, she said. The United States has since December supported more than
400,000 male circumcisions, a procedure that reduces a man’s risk of acquiring
HIV by more than 60 percent. The remaining $37 million will be used for HIV
prevention research and services for populations at the highest risk of
infection.
“If we want to save more lives, we
need to go to where the virus is and get there as quickly as possible,” Clinton
said.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
