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September 14, 2011 - U.S. Department of State - Today, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
announced awards for a new initiative totaling $45 million over four years to examine the effectiveness of combination approaches to HIV
prevention. These evaluations of combination prevention will be the largest and most robust to date. Data gathered will help partner
countries to strengthen their efforts to prevent new infections and save lives.
To quickly build an evidence base, PEPFAR will support three awards. With funding from the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will partner with the NIH-funded HIV Prevention Trials Network to
examine a strategy linking household-based HIV testing to universal community-based HIV treatment in Zambia and South Africa.
The Harvard School of Public Health will receive funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to evaluate
the impact on HIV incidence of expanding population coverage of an integrated set of HIV prevention interventions in
Botswana. Through an existing USAID award, Johns Hopkins University will evaluate the impact of an integrated set
of biomedical, behavioral and structural prevention interventions to reduce HIV incidence in the Iringa region of Tanzania.
Combination prevention uses a suite of mutually reinforcing interventions to address the risks of HIV transmission
and acquisition as thoroughly and strategically as possible. Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, commented, "In light of
recent research establishing the preventive effect of antiretroviral treatment, antiretroviral-based interventions will be a key component
of the combination approaches studied."
The evaluations will be critical to U.S. efforts to maximize the impact and efficiency of investments in order
to save as many lives as possible. The studies will begin in 2011 and 2012, and implementation and evaluation will be coordinated by a
linked to the PEPFAR Scientific Advisory Board. This coordinated approach will help address critical research questions in a timely
fashion. For additional information, please visit the following links:
www.PEPFAR.gov/sab
www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/aids
www.cdc.gov/globalaids
www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/hivaids/Pages/Default.aspx
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Source: U.S. Department of State |
