Det er blevet sagt, at uden det enorme amerikanske PEPFAR-program slipper verden aldrig af med den frygtede aids-lidelse – ikke desto mindre beskæres programmets midler nu og det skaber frygt og uro i ikke mindst de afrikanske lande.
ADDIS ABABA, 6 June 2013 (IRIN): Ten years ago, a shipping container was converted into Ethiopia’s first HIV treatment centre, in Addis Ababa, the capital.
Created in response to a dramatic rise in new HIV infections and AIDS -related deaths, the centre offered the only hope for HIV-positive Ethiopians, who had to pay to access the life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART) (medicin).
When US Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby joined other US and Ethiopian officials at the centre on a recent trip, they found a state-of-the-art facility, where thousands of clients receive free, comprehensive (samlet) HIV treatment.
The centre, a wing at the Empress Zewditu Memorial Hospital, has just added an outpatient (ambulant) annex.
“At least 350 clients will be seen daily in this new facility, some of whom have not been able to receive the services they need and deserve elsewhere. I particularly applaud Zewditu for its tremendous effort to build the first site in Ethiopia that offers counselling and testing services for the deaf and blind,” Goosby said at the inauguration ceremony.
The centre is now one of 900 sites across the country where over 290.000 people are receiving ART.
The new centre, like thousands across Africa, was funded by the US government-run President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Established in 2003, PEPFAR was the product of a rare bipartisan (tværpolitisk) deal between former US president George W. Bush and lawmakers spearheaded by the Congressional Black Caucus.
It was first a commitment of 15 billion US dollar in funding to fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic; at the launch of the plan, only 50.000 Africans were accessing ART (livsforlængende medicin), according to Eric Goosby who heads PEPFAR.
In 2012, an estimated 8 million people were receiving treatment in low- and middle-income countries – of which PEPFAR directly supported 5,1 million.
This was a 20-fold increase in treatment coverage since PEPFAR was created in 2003.
In 2012 alone, the emergency plan helped carry out 46 million HIV tests, preventing 230.000 babies from being born HIV-positive, Goosby said in an interview with IRIN.
Funding cuts versus an AIDS-free generation
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