Statement from Joanne Carter on the Release of PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free Generation

In response to the release of PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free Generation, Joanne Carter, Executive Director of RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund, released the following statement:

This blueprint reflects the opportunity we have to not just fight HIV/AIDS, but end it. I applaud Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Goosby for their leadership and vision in outlining the next phase of the United States response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

As the blueprint makes clear, an essential building block for achieving an AIDS-free generation is strong support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Next fall donor countries will convene at a Global Fund replenishment conference to pledge their financial support over the next three years. U.S. leadership and a strong three-year funding pledge to the Global Fund are essential to ensuring we seize this opportunity to turn the tide on HIV/AIDS.

The blueprint is also exceptionally clear that more aggressive efforts are needed to fight tuberculosis, the leading killer of people living with HIV/AIDS. While one in four AIDS deaths are from TB, U.S. investment in programs to address TB-HIV co-infection has stagnated at just over two percent of PEPFAR funding. I am pleased that the blueprint recognizes an AIDS-free generation will require expanded efforts to fight TB and tackle the deadly synergy of TB-HIV.