Obama’s E300m ‘gift’ to Swaziland

MBABANE – The Kingdom of Swaziland is scheduled to receive about E300 million from the United States government this year, to fight HIV/AIDS.

The local embassy has confirmed that the kingdom would receive the amount, about US$30 million, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Tanya Ward , of the local United States Embassy’s Public Affairs Section, confirmed the figure.

The PEPFAR 2009 Annual Report to Congress (the US equivalent of Parliament) outlines the objectives and operations of the emergency plan, which began during President George Bush’s tenure.

The report was actually presented to Congress by the Bush administration.

However, since Barack Obama took over as President on January 20, 2009, he is now in charge of PEPFAR.

The United States government has said AIDS is still among the most deadly infectious diseases in the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, the epicentre of the pandemic, it is the leading cause of death. More than 22 million of those infected — more than two thirds of all people living with HIV/AIDS — live in the region, and approximately 1.7 million people die of AIDS there each year, more than three-quarters of the global total.

The U.S. Department of State released the annual report to Congress, on Monday, January 12, 2009.  The report highlights achievements of the first five years of PEPFAR, the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human history.

The Bush administration on Monday released to Congress the fifth annual report of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which provided a review of the programme’s first five years, before Bush left office on January 20, 2009.

Condoleezza Rice, former US Secretary of State, at a press conference to release the report said she did not think that "anything will stand as strongly in the hearts and minds of people around the world, but also in our own consciousness, as the work and achievements of PEPFAR."
At the time of PEPFAR’s initial launch in 2003, at least 50 000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving antiretroviral treatment.

According to the report, in our possession, during its first five years PEPFAR provided antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to 2.1 million HIV-positive people, exceeding the programme’s goal of treating two million people.

The US government has, since 2003, allocated $18.8 billion (about E180 billion) to PEPFAR for HIV prevention and treatment efforts, which is the largest amount spent by any country to combat a disease, according to the report.

In countless communities around the world, through partnerships with the American people, courageous individuals in nations devastated by HIV/AIDS are choosing life, saving the lives of their fellow countrymen and women, and creating hope for a future free of HIV/AIDS. Through the power of these partnerships, the American people and the dedicated men and women in nations devastated by HIV/ AIDS have proven that the seemingly impossible is possible.
In her remarks at the release of the report, former Secretary of State Rice said: "When PEPFAR was announced, the President set out aggressive goals of supporting treatment for 2 million people, preventing 7 million new infections, and care for 10 million people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable children." 

As of September 30, 2008, PEPFAR supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for more than 2.1 million men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS around the world.