The US government greenlights US$112 Million for PEPFAR to Ethiopia’s HIV/AIDS response

ETHIOPIA—The approval of the US$112 million for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been announced to support Ethiopia’s continued response to end HIV/AIDS in 2030.

The announcement was made by the Amb. Dr. John Nkengasong the U.S Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Health Diplomacy.

This is part of the country’s operation plan for 2023 (COP23), the PEPFAR program whose investments helped to strengthen the health system through workforce development.

In attendance was Tracey Jacobson, Charge’ d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.

COP23 represents the culmination of the cooperation between PEPFAR and the Ministry of Health to plan and develop programming to support the needs of people living with HIV in Ethiopia. 

The approval of COP23 by Amb. Dr. John Nkengasong ensures a continuation of the PEPFAR programming, conducted in Ethiopia in close partnership with the Ministry of Health, which will ensure Ethiopia is on track to achieve the goal of epidemic control by 2030.

In a series of consultative meetings in Ethiopia and South Africa, the PEPFAR team, along with the Ministry of Health led by H.E. Dr. Lia Tadesse, and Ethiopia civil society organizations worked together.

The meeting was aimed to ensure that COP23 programming restores services to areas impacted by conflict and sustains the HIV program countrywide.

Moreso, to achieve the 95-95-95 goals (95% of people know their status; 95% of HIV+ people are on treatment; and 95% of those on treatment are virally suppressed) to reach epidemic control by 2025. 

With a focus on improving care and treatment for Ethiopians under 15 years old, PEPFAR and the Ministry of Health hope to close the gaps in HIV services and end HIV as a public health threat in Ethiopia.

Over the past 20 years, PEPFAR has invested nearly US$3 billion to support the HIV/AIDS response in Ethiopia. 

PEPFAR investments helped to strengthen the health system through workforce development, improving infrastructure to support HIV services, and supporting the establishment of referral laboratories and a national health information system throughout the country to address HIV.

Ethiopia’s HIV/AIDS progress

The Ministry of Health of Ethiopia, HIV Prevention in Ethiopia National Road Map 2018 – 2020, notes that Ethiopia is one of the top 25 countries globally with new HIV infections.

According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2020 country fact sheet, Ethiopia has a total of 620,000 people living with HIV.

Of these, 360,000 were women of childbearing age with 8,900 adults newly infected.

In the last two decades, there has been tremendous growth in HIV-related programs, including education and stigma-reduction programs, behavior change initiatives, expansion of HIV testing, and programs aimed at youth. Identifying pockets of caseloads will also help to reveal the uncovered HIV cases.

Despite Ethiopia’s remarkable progress in preventing and controlling the epidemic, HIV continues to be a major public health issue among Ethiopia’s reproductive and working populations.

The PEPFAR is the U.S. Government’s response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and represents the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history.

In 2022, 60% of the PEPFAR total annual budget for the HIV/AIDS program in Ethiopia was implemented by local partners who will provide direct services on HIV prevention, care, and treatment.

As of September 30, 2022, PEPFAR has supported life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) for more than 20.1 million men, women, and children with HIV. 

They are targeting key and priority populations and orphan and vulnerable children and in 2022, eight local centers managed the comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment services and orphan and vulnerable children programming in PEPFAR priority regions.

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