Since 2003, the U.S. government has saved more than 20 million lives and prevented millions of HIV infections through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Working together with partners in more than 50 countries, the PEPFAR program has helped move the HIV/AIDS epidemic from crisis toward control.
HJFMRI helps the U.S. Military HIV Research Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research implement PEPFAR HIV prevention, care and treatment services in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. In 2021, HJFMRI helped MHRP serve 368,260 people on antiretroviral treatment and more than 1 million HIV counseling and testing recipients.
Services
PEPFAR-supported activities follow the UNAIDS 95-95-95 clinical cascade, expand access to evidence-based HIV prevention, care and treatment interventions, and build local capacity. With U.S. DoD and in-country partners, HJFMRI employs strategies that contribute to local capacity building and sustainability in the countries where we operate.
The PEPFAR program provides a range of life-saving services including HIV counseling and targeted testing including index testing, provision of antiretroviral treatment, pre-exposure prophylaxis, voluntary medical male circumcision, prevention of mother to child transmission, early infant diagnosis, and viral load testing, among other areas. HJFMRI supports PEPFAR program initiatives for vulnerable populations including children, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), men and other key populations.
HJFMRI also helps collaborators implement the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe (DREAMS) program, an innovative public-private partnership that has proven effective in reducing HIV diagnoses in adolescent girls and young women by at least 25 percent in many high-burden countries including Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
Research
HJFMRI helps conduct the U.S. Military HIV Research Program’s African Cohort Study (AFRICOS), a multisite, long-term study that evaluates HIV prevention, care, and treatment services it supports through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In 2023, this planned 15-year study entered its tenth year and has enrolled more than 3,700 participants. HJFMRI scientists and program specialists have been critical to translating AFRICOS findings to best practices and health policy for HIV care and treatment.
