Since its inception, PEPFAR has had a strong commitment to children. We work to ensure that infants are born HIV-Free, that young people and their partners can stay HIV-Free through their adolescence, and that children and adolescents living with HIV have access to the life-saving treatment and care needed for them to be AIDS-Free.
PEPFAR is fully committed to working toward the elimination of new HIV infections among children and keeping their mothers alive. With PEPFAR support, a cumulative total of 2.6 million infant HIV infections have been averted since the beginning of PEPFAR. More than half of that progress was achieved since 2013. That means many more babies are surviving HIV-Free, and their mothers are staying healthy and AIDS-Free to protect and nurture them.
Through PEPFAR’s flagship DREAMS public-private partnership, adolescent girls and young women are empowered and equipped to stay HIV-free throughout their adolescence. DREAMS has reduced new HIV diagnoses among adolescent girls and young women by 25 percent or more in nearly all regions where it is implemented.
PEPFAR has supported 22.8 million men and boys with voluntary medical male circumcision, a one-time, low-cost intervention shown in randomized controlled trials to reduce men’s risk of HIV by approximately 60 percent, with the prevention effect maintained for life.
In 2019, PEPFAR supported nearly 700,000 children (ages 0-14 years) with life-saving antiretroviral treatment. PEPFAR has provided critical care and support for 6.3 million orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers so they can survive and thrive. PEPFAR’s support of children and adolescents living with HIV to stay AIDS-Free can help them to grow up healthy and thrive, with their HIV suppressed from an early age, and reduce their risk of transmitting the disease as they become adults.