Every year, on World AIDS Day, people around the world come together to demonstrate their support for people living with HIV and to remember those who died of AIDS-related illnesses. Each World AIDS Day focuses on a specific theme.
This year’s Day 2020 theme, “Ending the HIV / AIDS epidemic: Resilience and Impact”, reflects the strong bipartisan commitment of the US Government to ending the HIV / AIDS epidemic worldwide and in Angola. Today, the US Embassy celebrates World AIDS Day and celebrates the progress made to end the HIV / AIDS epidemic in Angola!
The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is, in human history, any nation’s greatest commitment to fighting a single disease. For more than a decade, PEPFAR has worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health, through the National Institute for the Fight Against AIDS (INLS), to achieve inclusive, resilient, and sustainable HIV control.
During our 17 years of collaboration with Angola, PEPFAR has invested more than the US $ 177 million to support the Government of the Republic of Angola in progress in controlling the HIV / AIDS epidemic.
The $ 15.7 million PEPFAR program for 2020-2021 aims to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in four provinces (Benguela, Cunene, Huambo, and Lunda Sul), through a partnership with INLS and with the initiative of the First Lady, Ms. Ana Dias Lourenço, “Nascer Livre para Brilhar”, to reinforce HIV care and treatment in health facilities, increase community involvement and build infrastructure for clinical laboratories and the supply chain.
The US Embassy’s PEPFAR program builds on the strengths of various US government agencies. In 2002, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established a partnership with the Government of Angola. Over the past 18 years, the focus of CDC HIV programming has shifted from emergency response to fighting a growing pandemic and now to sustainability and shared responsibility for epidemic control.
CDC’s clinical and laboratory technical assistance is in line with the objectives of the “Nascer Livre para Brilhar” initiative. The US Department of Defense (DOD) provides technical assistance focused on controlling the HIV epidemic directly to the health system of the Angolan Armed Forces.
The North American Agency for International Development (USAID) trains mentoring mothers in Benguela, Cunene, and Lunda Sul, to work in their communities to reduce the transmission of HIV.
These mentoring mothers are HIV-positive women, who live full lives, manage their own health, and invest in the health of their communities. USAID also works with INLS to maximize the availability of HIV treatment.
In an effort to combat the disease from all angles, the US Government and the ExxonMobil Foundation recently announced a new Partnership through USAID. The “Reducing Infections through Support and Education II” (RISE II) project will allow the ExxonMobil Foundation and USAID to expand prevention efforts to help further reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission in Angola.
In sub-Saharan Africa, young women aged 15 to 24 are twice as likely as men to live with HIV. In addressing mother-to-child transmission, PEPFAR works to empower and protect women.
Many heroines in the fight against HIV are women who take the lead to ensure that their sisters, aunts, cousins , and their children live a full and healthy life.
The US Embassy applauds all health professionals, mentoring mothers, and other Angolan citizens who work tirelessly to control the HIV epidemic – not just on World AIDS Day, but every day of the year. These people are real heroes and public health leaders.
Together, with Resilience and Sustained Impact, we can control a pandemic for which there is still no vaccine or cure. Achieving control of the epidemic will be a remarkable achievement; it will save millions of lives worldwide and ensure that Angolan children are born HIV-free and have a bright future.
All of us, at the US Embassy in Luanda, are proud to see PEPFAR, INLS and the Nascer Livre para Brilhar initiative work together in the fight against AIDS in Angola.
