Secretary Blinken Delivers Remarks at the PEPFAR 2021 Planning Meeting

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken addressed the 2021 Planning Meeting for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) on April 1.

Through PEPFAR, the U.S. government has invested over $85 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, saving over 20 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and accelerating progress toward controlling the global HIV/AIDS epidemic since 2003. Additionally, PEPFAR has helped build critical health care infrastructure and capacity, trained more than 290,000 health care workers around the world, and supported the COVID-19 response.

During his remarks, Secretary Blinken reiterated the need to continue the work towards reaching millions of people in need with HIV prevention and treatment services and stopping gender-based violence. He also noted this about the PEPFAR program, “This is lifesaving leadership that Americans can be proud of.”

Please view Secretary Blinken’s video remarks.