For Immediate Release:
October 26, 2005

Contact: Adrienne Verrilli 212-819-9770 x325

Washington , DC - The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS) is pleased to announce the release of its latest publication, SIECUS PEPFAR Country Profiles: Focusing in on Prevention and Youth. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) supports programs in 15 countries in Africa and the Caribbean. This publication will provide the first, comprehensive overview of key country-level information on how U.S. HIV-prevention policies under PEPFAR, including the exportation of U.S.-styled abstinence and marriage promotion programs, are impacting efforts to stem this worldwide pandemic.

"While the commitment of the United States in stemming the tide of HIV/AIDS is laudable, our own research in this new report shows that the great potential of this initiative is not being realized because the politics and ideology of the Bush Administration are taking precedence over public health," said William Smith, vice president for public policy at SIECUS.

Instead of promoting a multi-pronged, inclusive approach to HIV-prevention, SIECUS found that the bulk of programs funded under PEPFAR focused on promoting abstinence and marriage. In Fiscal Year 2004, according to Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, a total of $193 million was committed to HIV-prevention activities under PEPFAR. Of this, $91.6 million was dedicated to preventing the sexual transmission of HIV. $50.5 million (56%) of those prevention dollars went to abstinence-until-marriage and faithfulness promotion programs. This, despite that in the U.S., abstinence-until-marriage programs have not been proven effective. In fact, recent research has shown that these programs may have a negative impact on young people's sexual decisions. Furthermore, in Africa and the Caribbean marriage is not a protective factor, but, in fact, a risk factor in the transmission of HIV.

"The current U.S. Administration claims to support evidence-based approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention, yet it is investing millions of dollars in unproven and potentially harmful abstinence-until-marriage programs," Smith continued. "There are over one billion young people ages 15-24 worldwide. Protecting their health should be of foremost concern, not exporting failed, extremist ideology," Smith said.

Beginning in 2004, the U.S. government (USG) is providing roughly $2 billion in HIV/AIDS-related funding each year for five years to support prevention, treatment, and care in each of 15 "focus countries." These countries include Botswana, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Haiti, Guyana, and Vietnam. The funding stream specifically for HIV-prevention is limited to a maximum of only 20% of all U.S. funds allocated for global AIDS . By law, at least 33 percent of those prevention dollars must be spent on abstinence-until-marriage programs .

Moreover, the Administration argues that it is promoting a comprehensive approach to prevention, called "ABC," abstain, be faithful, use condoms. SIECUS' new publication clearly documents that this is not the case. Under PEPFAR, the "C" in ABC is qualified-use condoms "where appropriate." The Administration claims that condoms are only "appropriate for high-risk groups," such as sex workers and sero-discordant couples, couples in which one partner is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative.

"Elevating the promotion of abstinence-until-marriage and fidelity above, and to the exclusion of, other prevention efforts is a wrong-headed policy and is placing lives at risk" Smith said. "We hope our work here will shine a light on the dangerous politics of ideology and work toward support for comprehensive, science-based HIV/AIDS- prevention programs," Smith said

To view publication, go to: www.siecus.org/inter/pepfar

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