Statement from amfAR on Congress’s Failure to Reauthorize PEPFAR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has saved 25 million lives

NEW YORK, October 4, 2023 — For twenty years, PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) has provided vital HIV prevention and treatment programming in more than 50 countries around the world. It is responsible for saving 25 million lives, has provided 20 million people with access to lifesaving medication, and ensured more than 5.5 million babies were born HIV-free, among other extraordinary accomplishments. In spite of this monumental track record, Congress failed to vote to reauthorize the program by the October 1 deadline.

This dereliction of duty puts millions of lives at risk and has the potential to undo many decades of progress fighting HIV/AIDS. Members of Congress came together over the weekend to stave off a shutdown of the federal government. amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, calls on them to work together once more to pass a reauthorization of PEPFAR.

“PEPFAR has long enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress and there is no good reason it cannot continue to do so,” amfAR Vice President and Director for Public Policy Greg Millett said. “Few government programs better fulfill the U.S. Constitution’s promise to ‘promote the general welfare’ than PEPFAR’s mission to end AIDS.”

Congress must act immediately to reauthorize PEPFAR; failure to do so will result in many preventable deaths and tarnish the U.S.’s reputation as a vital and dependable source of support for lifesaving health programs in resource-constrained regions of the world.

About amfAR
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. Since 1985, amfAR has raised nearly $900 million in support of its programs and has awarded more than 3,800 grants to research teams worldwide. Learn more at www.amfAR.org

Media Contact:
Robert Kessler, Program Communications Manager
(212) 806-1602
robert.kessler@amfar.org