The U.S.-Botswana health partnership remains strong and effective. HIV-associated mortality has been reduced by more than half since treatment became available, and the rate of new infections has declined. Botswana's HIV treatment and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programs are models for their coverage and quality of services. The rate of mother to child HIV transmission in Botswana has declined to

The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Asia Regional Program (ARP) is a platform for technical assistance (TA) to national HIV/AIDS programs and their partners (including other PEPFAR programs) throughout Asia, with a special focus on the HIV responses in China, Laos, and Thailand. Activities in China are being included in the ARP for the first time in FY 2013, as PEPFAR's work in that country continues to evolve. The unrivalled pace of development in parts of Asia is being accompanied by accelerated transmission of HIV/AIDS across borders, in urbanized areas, and among...

In 2011, Secretary Clinton called on the world to join in the fight for an AIDS Free generation and in 2012 the Secretary revealed a PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) Blueprint outlining the path to making this a reality. Aligned with the Global Health Initiative (GHI) Strategy, our Partnership Framework (PF) and the Blueprint's policy imperative, Angola's PEPFAR initiatives are based on strategic, scientifically sound investments to scale-up core HIV prevention to maximize impact. Based on a capacity-building, systems strengthening model, PEPFAR Angola is working with...

The Republic of Malawi has a population of nearly 16 million people living in an area of 118,484 square kilometers (approximately the size of Ohio). As one of the poorest countries in the world, currently ranked 171 out of 187 on the Human Development Index, Malawi has faced an uphill battle to achieve improvements in key health indicators. Malawi is faced with double-digit HIV prevalence, one of the highest malaria prevalence rates in the world, and a population that is expected to double by 2030. These challenges are putting increasing pressure on land, natural resources and social...

The Kingdom of Lesotho, located in the eastern part of Southern Africa, covers an area of 30,350 km2 and has a population of 1,876,633 million. Largely mountainous, 23% of the population lives in urban areas clustered along the flatter north-western borders. The remaining 77% live in rural and difficult to access areas. Less than 20% of the population has salaried employment and 77% of households in Lesotho depend on subsistence agricultural as their main source of food. Employment in Lesotho is limited; 43% of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day and the Lesotho workforce depend...

Throughout most of Indonesia, HIV/AIDS remains a concentrated epidemic, with highest prevalence among high-risk groups of sex workers, intravenous drug users and transgender persons in medium and large cities and major ports in the world's largest archipelago. In the two provinces that make up Papua in the far eastern part of Indonesia, HIV/AIDS is a generalized epidemic, with a 2006 prevalence of 2.4%, although higher among the native Papuan population which accounts for about one half of those living in Papua. The 2011 integrated bio behavioral survey (IBBS) among high risk behavior groups...

India has the world's third largest HIV epidemic in terms of numbers of people infected. In 2011, there were an estimated 2.1 million people living with HIV (PLWH), and 116,000 new HIV infections among adults, 14,500 new infections among children, and 148,000 AIDS-related deaths. Women account for 39% of reported HIV cases. India's epidemic is characterized by concentrated transmission and heterogeneous geographic spread. Sexual transmission is estimated to account for nearly 90% of new infections (88.5% heterosexual, 1.5% homosexual). Injecting drug use is the main mode of transmission in...

For many in the United States, Haiti has become synonymous with hurricanes and earthquakes whose effects are compounded by the vulnerability of the populations they strike in the Haitian countryside and the precarious hillside encampments around Port-au-Prince. Natural disaster, combined with frequent political instability and disease have continually set back Haitian efforts to chart a stable path toward social and economic renewal. While there are numerous interdependent needs to break these cycles of poverty, improving the health of the Haitian population is central to rebuilding the human...

Since the first reported case of AIDS in Guyana in 1987, the HIV epidemic has been a significant threat to health and development in Guyana, with an estimated 6,200 adults and children living with HIV at the end of 2011. Guyana's HIV epidemic is categorized as a low level generalized epidemic. Statistics at the end of 2011 show HIV prevalence among the general population steadily decreasing, from 2.4% in 2004 to 1.1% in 2011. This equates to an estimated 5,900 adults living with HIV, a considerable burden for a population of less than one million. Similarly, prevalence among pregnant women...

HIV prevalence and incidence have been declining in the general population since prevalence peaked at 2.4% in 1998 and is presently estimated at 1.5% in the general population. Nevertheless, the numbers of persons living with HIV and AIDS continue to increase due to population growth and to the decline in AIDS deaths as more infected persons receive anti-retroviral treatment (ART). HIV infection rates among young pregnant women attending antenatal clinics have been declining as measured by the national HIV sentinel surveillance system. HIV prevalence among persons 15 - 24 years old is...