With 82 million people, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite impressive economic growth, Ethiopia remains a low-income country with a real per capita income of US $351 and 39% of the population living below the international poverty line of $1.25/day . According to the UN Human Development Index, 2012, Ethiopia ranks 174 out of 187 countries on both the overall index and the per capita GNI (Gross National Income). It is also one of the least urbanized countries with 82% of the population living in rural areas. In 2010, Ethiopia launched a five-year...

The Dominican Republic (DR), with a population of 9.7 million (2010 census), shares the Island of Hispaniola with Haiti. The DR has an HIV seroprevalence of 0.8% (DHS/2007), slightly lower than the 1.0% from DHS/2002. New seroprevalence estimates from the 2013 DHS should be available by the end of 2014. The epidemic is largely driven by heterosexual practices, including multiple partners and transactional sex. However, men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender, and male and female commercial sex workers (CSW) exhibit higher seroprevalence than the national level. Additionally, drug users...

The country continues to experience a generalized HIV epidemic with an estimated 1.2 million HIV-infected adults and children in 2011 and approximately 58,000 deaths each year. Social, cultural, and economic factors contributing to HIV transmission include transactional sex, multiple and concurrent partners, alcohol abuse, low awareness of HIV infection status, lack of ART use in undiagnosed individuals, poor treatment adherence, and low levels of male circumcision (MC). While prevalence among youth has dropped significantly, it is worth noting that prevalence among girls was twice that of...

The recent 2012 UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report showed significant improvements in HIV and AIDS-related results globally. In general, new HIV infections declined among children; there were fewer AIDS-related deaths; and there were increased investments in the response to HIV and AIDS. Zambia, like many countries, has recorded significant improvements in all three key areas. According to the report, between 2001 and 2011, Zambia reduced new HIV infections by 58%, while the country also cut AIDS-related deaths by more than 50%. The 2007 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (2007 ZDHS) measured...

During the first phase of PEPFAR, OGAC identified Vietnam as a focus country for ARV treatment scale-up. Since its launch in 2005, PEPFAR has been the leading funding source for HIV prevention, care and treatment services in Vietnam. In 2013, PEPFAR Vietnam (PEPFAR VN) will remain a cornerstone of the U.S. Mission's health diplomacy effort and will continue to underwrite over 80% of the national response. At the end of PEPFAR's second phase, the PEPFAR VN team has been guided by OGAC to transition the program from a direct service delivery model to one with greater focus on technical...

Ukraine is experiencing one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with an estimated 230,000 people aged 15 and over living with HIV at the end of 2011. In 2011, the HIV prevalence in adults aged 15-49 in Ukraine was estimated at 0.76%. Only slightly more than 124,000 patients with HIV/AIDS were under regular medical observation. Considering the overall estimation of people living with HIV, this suggests that a significant proportion of people with HIV are unaware of their status, and therefore unable to take adequate measures to...

In September 2012, the Ministry of Health (MOH) released the results of the Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey (UAIS) 2011, which indicated that Uganda continues to experience a severe HIV epidemic. HIV prevalence in the general population (15 to 59 years old) is estimated to be 7.3% in 2011, compared to 6.4% in 2004-5. HIV prevalence is higher among women (8.3%) than among men (6.1%). Compared to the 2004/5 UAIS survey, the magnitude of change in HIV prevalence varied across regions: Central, Western, Southwestern and Northern regions remain the worst-affected while modest declines in prevalence...

Since 2004, PEPFAR Tanzania has been working closely with the United Republic of Tanzania and other donors, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to respond to the HIV epidemic. PEPFAR/T, the GFATM and the URT share a symbiotic relationship in Tanzania. While PEPFAR/T predominantly focuses on services and system strengthening, GFATM is responsible for commodity procurement and some systems strengthening, and the URT provides policy framework, infrastructure, systems, and personnel. Deficits in resources, governance, and health systems continue to complicate...

Swaziland is a landlocked kingdom at the epicenter of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, struggling to mitigate the world's highest prevalence rates of HIV and TB. Economically, Swaziland is closely tied to South Africa, from which it receives 90 percent of its imports and a large proportion of its public sector financing through the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Compounding the economic situation and exacerbating the strains on the health and social systems was a precipitous fall in revenue resulting from two-thirds cut of SACU customs receipts in 2009. More than half of the population...

After experiencing decades of civil war and following the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) the Republic of South Sudan (RSS) became an independent nation on July 9, 2011. South Sudan's development challenges remain daunting. The country has some of the lowest human development statistics in the world for literacy; educational access; maternal and neonatal mortality; child survival; nutrition; family planning use; and access to safe water and sanitation. The majority of the population of South Sudan still lacks access to the essential services of education, health,...