amfAR Hails Release of AIDS-Free Generation Blueprint

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
AnnMari Shannahan, VP Public Information
(212) 806-1754
annmari.shannahan@amfar.org

NEW YORK, November 29, 2012—amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, on Thursday welcomed the release of the U.S. State Department’s blueprint for an AIDS-Free Generation and urged the U.S. government, donors, and other countries to act on the action steps outlined in the document and increase strategic investments to combat the global epidemic.

“The blueprint changes the conversation on tackling global AIDS. Until today we talked about the potential for an AIDS-free generation. With the release of the blueprint, the focus moves to the practical, evidence-based steps needed to reach that goal,” said amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost. “The evidence tells us we won’t begin to end the AIDS epidemic unless we scale up investments, focus on evidence-based interventions, and increase attention to populations that are most at risk.”

The State Department blueprint—officially titled “PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-Free Generation”—underscores the importance of the three core interventions Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasized in her November 2011 address at the National Institutes of Health: HIV treatment, voluntary medical male circumcision, and services to prevent vertical transmission (from mother to child). Additionally, the blueprint emphasizes the need for investments that focus on the populations most at risk for HIV infection, including gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), sex workers, and injecting drug users (IDUs).

“Modeling included in the blueprint makes clear the opportunity to significantly reduce HIV infection and death rates and begin to end the global epidemic,” said Chris Collins, amfAR’s vice president and director of public policy. “Today’s new coverage numbers are very encouraging, but we now need increased and more strategic investment from the United States, other donors, and affected countries to seize this opportunity and end the AIDS epidemic for good.”

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 the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested more than $366 million in its programs and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.