PEPFAR

What is PEPFAR?

The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) saves lives, prevents millions of HIV infections, and supports several countries to achieve HIV epidemic control—all while significantly strengthening global security.

PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, enabled by strong bipartisan support across ten U.S. congresses and four presidential administrations, and through the American people’s generosity. PEPFAR shows the power of what is possible through compassionate, cost-effective, accountable, and transparent American foreign assistance.

Since PEPFAR’s inception in 2003, the U.S. government has invested over $100 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, saving over 25 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and supporting several countries to achieve HIV epidemic control, all while significantly strengthening global health and economic security.

PEPFAR works closely with partner countries toward achieving HIV/AIDS epidemic control while promoting the long-term sustainability of their responses. It forges strategic partnerships with the private sector that support and specifically complement its prevention, care, and treatment work, addressing key gaps in innovative ways. PEPFAR partners with and strengthens the capacity of civil society and communities, including faith-based communities and organizations, recognizing that successful and sustainable HIV/AIDS interventions must involve, be informed by, and be tailored to those whom it serves.

PEPFAR is managed and overseen by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy and implemented by seven U.S. government departments and agencies, leveraging the power of a whole-of-government approach to controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic. On December 1, 2022, PEPFAR announced a five-year strategy: Fulfilling America’s Promise to End the HIV/AIDS Pandemic by 2030. The Strategy centers on collaboration and partnership to confront the challenge of HIV/AIDS in the wake of other emerging health threats.

What Are PEPFAR’s Priorities?

• Progress: When PEPFAR was launched in 2003, an HIV diagnosis was a death sentence in much of the world; entire families and communities were falling ill. In the intervening years, death and despair have been overwhelmingly replaced with vibrant lives and hope. With the American people’s generosity, the United States has saved 25 million lives and prevented millions of HIV infections through PEPFAR. Working together with our partners in more than 50 countries, PEPFAR has accelerated progress toward controlling the HIV/AIDS pandemic – community by community.
• Policies: PEPFAR ensures every dollar is optimally focused for impact through data-driven policies, and supports partner countries to do the same.
• Populations: PEPFAR reaches the populations that are most affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic with innovative solutions that meet their needs.
• Partnerships: PEPFAR leverages the power of partnerships across multiple sectors to increase its impact and advance sustainability.

What Has Been PEPFAR’s Impact?

PEPFAR’s strategic rigor has allowed the program to significantly expand its lifesaving results and impact without increased financial resources. Below are details on just some of PEPFAR’s latest global program achievements.

Supporting Countries to Achieve Epidemic Control

PEPFAR has enabled more than a dozen countries to control the spread of HIV or reach the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2025 95-95-95 HIV targetsExit Disclaimer, even without a vaccine or a cure, advancing global progress toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal of ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

Delivering Life-Saving Antiretroviral Treatment

As of September 30, 2023, PEPFAR has supported life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) for more than 20.47 million men, women, and children with HIV. Viral load testing coverage and suppression among people on treatment continues to increase for adults and children. In fiscal year 2023 (FY 2023), 96% of adults and 88% of children were virally suppressed. The massive, rapid expansion in access to treatment stands as one of PEPFAR’s greatest achievements for many reasons: not only has ART saved the lives of millions of people with HIV and increased their life expectancy to near-normal levels, but it allows individuals to achieve and maintain viral suppression, the strongest available intervention to prevent HIV transmission. (See PEPFAR’s annual report to Congress on HIV treatment.)

Empowering and Equipping Adolescent Girls and Young Women to Stay HIV-Free

Through the PEPFAR-led DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) public-private partnership, adolescent girls and young women are empowered and equipped to stay HIV-free throughout their adolescence. In FY 2023, 2.5 million adolescent girls and young women were reached through DREAMS HIV prevention services.

Enabling Babies to be Born HIV-Free and Supporting Orphans, Vulnerable Children, and Caregivers

As of September 30, 2023, PEPFAR has enabled more than 5.5 million babies to be born HIV-free to mothers living with HIV. The program has also provided critical care and support for 7 million orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers so they can survive and thrive.

Preventing HIV Infection in Men and Boys

PEPFAR has has provided 32.5 million voluntary medical male circumcisions in East and Southern Africa to help prevent new HIV infections since 2007. Uptake for the procedure rebounded in the past year after a decline since onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Strengthening Health Systems

PEPFAR directly supported more than 327,000 health workers to deliver quality HIV-related prevention, treatment, and supportive services in clinics and communities in FY 2023.

Access to PrEP

PEPFAR has supported 1.95 million individuals to newly enroll in antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection in FY 2023. Uptake of PrEP increased from 1.5 million in new PrEP enrollments in FY 2022.

Latest Program Results

PEPFAR regularly reports on results achieved by its programs.

• Read about the latest global results from PEPFAR-supported activities
• For more detailed information, visit the PEPFAR Data Dashboards.