US on track with global AIDS treatment

The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is exceeding its treatment target of providing free anti-AIDS treatment to two million people in developing countries over five years. PEPFAR is a $15 billion programme launched by President George W. Bush in 2003 to tackle HIV/AIDS in 12 African countries and the Caribbean. Bush noted during a recent meeting with five African presidents in Washington that the programme was supporting treatment for more than 230,000 people through bilateral programmes in the focus countries, and had already exceeded its annual goal of 35,000 people. In a statement the US president said, "Working with our African partners, we have now delivered treatment to more than 200,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa, and we're on our way to meeting an important ... five-year goal of providing treatment for nearly two million African adults and children."