Agency: AIDS initiative works, more is needed

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. global AIDS initiative has provided therapy and brought testing and counseling to millions around the world. Now the challenge is to move from emergency to sustained efforts, the Institute of Medicine said Friday.
Launched three years ago, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is active in 120 countries, with a concentrated focus on 15, where it seeks to have an impact.
In those focus countries, 800,000 people have received AIDS drugs through the program, another 19 million got testing and counseling, and therapy was able to block transmission of the disease from mother to infant in an estimated 100,000 cases, the report said.
Yet, worldwide, AIDS caused the deaths of almost 3 million people last year alone, while over 4 million others became infected, Dr. Jaime Sepulveda, chairman of the committee that prepared the report, said at a briefing.
"The first three years of PEPFAR have been characterized by a sense of urgency and by rapid implementation of programs. That is understandable; each year that passes, several million more people become infected with HIV and several million more die from AIDS around the world," he said. "But because the fight against AIDS will be a protracted one, it is also important to build toward a sustainable program."
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