PEPFAR is history: Difference between revisions

The '''President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief''' ('''PEPFAR''') is a United States governmental initiative to address the global [[HIV]] epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease. Launched by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003 on the advice of [[Anthony Fauci]], PEPFAR has provided more than $85 billion in cumulative funding for [[HIV]]/[[AIDS]] treatment, prevention, and research since its inception, making it the largest global health program focused on a single disease in history.

PEPFAR has begun providing money (United States tax dollars) for male circumcision programs.<ref>{{REFweb

  |last=The White House

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  |date=2010-10-01

  |title=World AIDS Day at the White House

  |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60uUA0uGOkc#t=22m38s

  |accessdate=2011-04-10

}}</ref> Focus countries have been invited to request program funding to increase access to the procedure.  

PEPFAR ignominiously ended the provision of non-therapeutic [[circumcision]] of boys under age 15 in November 2019 due to significant, complications, and injuries.

Note that the 60% is a relative risk reduction (absolute risk reduction 1.31%) during 18 months - not life-long.<ref name="boyle2011">{{BoyleGJ HillG 2011}}</ref>

Point of Interest: In recent studies, [[HIV]] transmission was found to be more prevalent in circumcised males in Swaziland. The drive to circumcise the majority of Swazi men continues none the less.<ref>{{REFjournal

Boyle & Hill (2011) established conclusively that the randomized controlled trials had disabling methodological and statistical flaws that invalidated their findings,<ref name="boyle2011" /> therefore the PEPFAR VMMC program is based on false information. [[Robert S. Van Howe|Van Howe]] & Storms (2011) correctly forecast that institution of a circumcision program would increase the number of [[HIV]] infections.<ref>{{REFjournal

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  |init2=

}}</ref> Van Howe & Boyle (2018) added further critical comment and suggested the possibility of fraud.<ref name="vanhowe2018">{{REFjournal  

Garenne & Matthews (2019) reported that there is little difference in the incidence of [[HIV]] infection between circumcised men and intact men in Zambia. The authors stated that the "effectiveness of VMMC could therefore be seriously questioned."<ref name="garrenne2019">{{REFjournal

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[[George C. Denniston]], {{MD}}, {{MPH}}, the president of [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision (D.O.C.)| Doctors Opposing Circumcision]], in a letter to Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, {{MD}}, {{MPH}}, dated 29 June 2020, the head of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR),  has called on PEPFAR to suspend the provision of male [[circumcision]] because it is ineffective and may increase the reception of [[HIV]] infection due to the loss of [[Immunological and protective function of the foreskin| immunological protections]] of the [[foreskin]], and to focus on the provision of anti-retroviral therapy and condoms.<ref name="denniston2020">{{REFdocument

  |publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision

[[George Hill]], CFI, ATR, acting for Doctors Opposing Circumcision, wrote to Deborah L. Birx on 28 January 2021 regarding her lack of action and to transmit a copy of the article by Fish et al. (2020).<ref name="hill2021">{{REFdocument

  |publisher=Doctors Opposing Circumcision

  |last=Foregen Staff

  |publisher=Foregen

[[Category:Circumcision in Africa]]