International AIDS Conference Emphasizes Evidence-Based Prevention
August 21, 2006
At last week's XVI International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Toronto, participants emphasized more boldly than ever before evidence-based prevention and the need to empower women to protect themselves from this deadly disease. As a founding member of the Caucus for Evidence-Based Prevention, PAI urges the implementation of HIV prevention policies centered on sound, scientific evidence and to give all people-especially women-the tools and information they need to protect themselves.
Caucus Promotes Evidence-Based AIDS Prevention Strategies at International AIDS Conference
August 17, 2006
Sunday night's opening plenary launched the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada, where thousands of people-including researchers, advocates, people living with AIDS, and policy makers-will spend the week discussing and debating HIV prevention, the treatment and care of those who have HIV/AIDS, and ways to eradicate this epidemic. Front and center is the Caucus for Evidence-Based Prevention, made up of over 50 influential non-government organizations, promoting HIV prevention efforts supported by scientific evidence, not ideology. As a founding member of the Caucus, along with amfAR and SIECUS, PAI calls for global support of evidence-based prevention as the best way to stem the growth of the HIV epidemic.
Foreign Aid Restructuring Threatens Family Planning Funding
July 31, 2006
In January of this year, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced a major restructuring of the U.S. government's foreign assistance program under a new vision of “transformational democracy.” As details of the plan have emerged, it appears that the short-term national security and democracy promotion objectives favored by the State Department are trumping the traditional focus on development and poverty reduction. This shift could prove enormously detrimental to long-term development programs, including family planning and reproductive health. PAI urges Congress to address the potential dangers that lie in this restructuring now, before these programs-that help so many women and children in need-are irreversibly undermined.
Access to Reproductive Health Supplies is Crucial to Achieving Millennium Development Goals
July 18, 2006
Ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information, services and supplies is essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a recent report released by the Millennium Project. The report makes five specific recommendations on integrating SRH into the MDGs, including funding for reproductive health supplies and the systems that ensure accurate and timely distribution. PAI strongly endorses these recommendations, specifically the need to improve access to contraceptives and condoms to meet the growing global demand. Without access to supplies, a sustainable reproductive health program is unattainable.
PAI Urges Congress to Support PATHWAY Act
July 10, 2006
In response to the tremendous need for greater flexibility in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in-country, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, with 56 original co-sponsors, introduced H.R. 5674, the Protection Against Transmission of HIV for Women and Youth (PATHWAY) Act of 2006. PATHWAY will require the President to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat the spread of HIV among women and children and eliminate the requirement that 33% of all HIV/AIDS prevention assistance go toward abstinence-until-marriage programs. PAI urges Congress to support this bill and allow countries the flexibility to develop HIV/AIDS prevention programs that respond to the unique needs of the epidemic in their countries rather than arbitrary quotas developed more with politics than prevention in mind.
U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Highlights Need for Family Planning in HIV/AIDS Prevention
July 3, 2006
Although woefully underfunded compared to other HIV/AIDS prevention programs, family planning and reproductive health services are essential tools in reducing the spread of HIV. For example, family planning services are effective and affordable interventions for preventing mother-to-child transmission of the disease by helping HIV-positive women have access to the contraceptives they desire to prevent unintended pregnancies.
Condom Use and HPV
June 26, 2006
A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine substantiates the effectiveness of condoms both in the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI), including the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). The findings of the study Condom Use and the Risk of Genital Human Papillomavirus Infection in Young Women, support PAI's long held belief that condom use is critical not only for HIV prevention but for prevention of other STIs. Programs that promote condom use for the prevention of HIV must collaborate with family planning programs for the purpose of reducing STIs, including HPV.
House Restores Family Planning Funding Cut by Administration
June 19, 2006
On June 9, the House overwhelmingly adopted its version of the FY 2007 foreign operations bill, the annual legislation which funds U.S. development and humanitarian assistance programs including Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH) programs. The House-approved bill includes $432 million for FP/RH programs, as well as $34 million for a U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), subject to a Kemp-Kasten restriction ruling. The $432 million funding level is a significant accomplishment in light of the Bush administrationís desire to cut the FP/RH funding level nearly 20 percent to $357 million. PAI commends family planning champions on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, in particular Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY), for rejecting the steep cuts proposed by the President and for their efforts to restore funding to these critical programs.
Voluntary Family Planning: An Investment in Our World's Future
June 12, 2006
Voluntary family planning programs have been found to be one of the most cost-effective health interventions in the developing world – yet account for less than 2 percent of all official development assistance. Funding worldwide must increase to meet the needs of over 200 million women in developing countries who currently wish to avoid or delay pregnancy but do not have access to modern contraceptives.
The Road To Toronto – Global Targets Needed to Measured Progress
June 6, 2006
Last week's high-level HIV/AIDS review at the United Nations produced an outcome document containing strong language on the unique prevention needs of women and girls. However, despite repeated pleas from over 800 civil society organizations working on the front lines, it lacks targets for marking progress toward ending the scourge of HIV/AIDS worldwide. The U.S. delegation, among others, did not support the inclusion of global targets by which tangible results can be measured, and PAI joins civil society in voicing its disappointment over this lack of action.
