32 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FOCUS ON GLOBAL HEALTH DIPLOMACY Why Continued U.S. Leadership on HIV Is Essential The end of AIDS as a public health threat is within sight. Continued vigorous U.S. support is essential to reach that goal. BY ANGELI ACHREKAR Angeli Achrekar, DrPH, is the deputy executive director for programmes at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and UN assistant secretary general. Prior to joining UNAIDS, she served for more than 20 years in the U.S. government with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including as acting U.S. global AIDS coordinator from 2020 to 2022. For more than two decades, the United States has been the preeminent leader in the global response to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and America’s critical partnerships with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS (UNAIDS), the United States has saved tens of millions of lives, enhanced global appreciation for U.S. leadership, and demonstrated the transformative power of American innovation and soft power on the global stage. American leadership in the historic effort to end AIDS is not only a story of compassion—it is a matter of national security, economic interest, and strategic influence. In 2024 UNAIDS estimates that PEPFAR returned nearly $20 in benefits for every $1 invested in eastern and southern Africa, where PEPFAR has focused its work. U.S. investments through PEPFAR have also enhanced global health stability and security, increasing demographic growth and economic productivity in 55 of America’s partners in low- and middle-income countries.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=