PEPFAR’s 20: Reflecting on the US mission to save lives globally

This is a remarkable achievement for a country with one of the highest HIV prevalence rates worldwide. This success demonstrates that ending the HIV epidemic is possible. PEPFAR is now supporting the MoH to achieve WHO “Gold Tier” certification, which requires maintaining MTCT at less than five percent, increasing the provision of prenatal care and anti-retroviral treatment to more than 95% of pregnant women, and includes eliminating mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B and syphilis (dubbed “triple elimination.”)

In 2022 the Government of Botswana and PEPFAR celebrated the results of the Botswana AIDS Impact Survey V (BAIS V). This was the first population-based survey in which Botswana exceeded the UNAIDS 95-95-95 epidemic control targets.

The survey revealed that 95% of all people living with HIV in Botswana knew their HIV status; 98% of all people diagnosed with HIV were receiving sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART); and 98% of all people receiving ART were virally suppressed.

On this auspicious 20th anniversary, we are focused on what PEPFAR can do in service to the many people who remain affected by HIV/AIDS. We are recommitting ourselves to working with partner governments, private and public organisations, the faith-based community, multilateral organisations, and others to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

The end of HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is an ambitious but achievable goal.

On World AIDS Day 2022, President Biden declared, “We finally have the scientific understanding, treatments, and tools to build an AIDS-free future where everyone – no matter who they are, where they come from, or whom they love - can get the care and respect they deserve.”

*Jacobsen is U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires. Jacobsen, who has been a career diplomat since 2006, joined U.S. Embassy Gaborone as the Deputy Chief of Mission in July 2021. She has served most of her Foreign Service career overseas with tours in Togo, Nepal, Botswana, and Ethiopia focusing on humanitarian assistance and refugee resettlement, strengthening global health partnerships, youth empowerment and capacity building of civil society, with a focus on the media