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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 2003on 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 ignominiously ended the provision of non-therapeutic [[circumcision ]] of boys under age 15 in November 2019 due to significant , complications, injuries, and other abuses and complications.

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>-->

|quote=The Ministry of Health, supported principally by [[UNICEF ]] and [[PEPFAR]], is currently working to introduce and scale up neonatal circumcision.

Boyle & Hill (2011) established conclusively that the randomized controlled trials had disabling methodological and statistical flaws that invalidated their findings,<ref name="boyle2011" >{{BoyleGJ HillG 2011}}</ref> 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

|init=RS

|init2=M

}}</ref> [[Robert S. Van Howe|Van Howe]] & Boyle (2018) added further critical comment and suggested the possibility of fraud.<ref name="vanhowe2018">{{REFjournal |last=Van Howe |first= |init=RS |author-link=Robert S. Van Howe |last2=Boyle |first2= |init2=GJ |author2-link=Gregory J. Boyle |etal=no |title=Meta-analysis of HIV-acquisition studies incomplete and unstable |journal=BJU Int |date=2018-10-31 |url=https://www.bjuinternational.com/letters/meta-analysis-circumcision-incomplete-unstable/ |quote=Given the effectiveness of condoms, the lack of consistent findings on national levels, the methodologically flawed RCTs, the lack of translational research, and the impressive potential uptake and effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis, circumcision as an intervention to prevent HIV infection should be treated with greater scepticism. |pubmedID= |pubmedCID= |DOI= |accessdate=2022-01-01}}</ref> PEPFAR, however, paid no attention to these warnings and continued to promote the harmful VMMC program.

[[Michel Garenne |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

|init=M |author-link=Michel Garenne

|init2=A

[[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(D.O.C.)]]

[[George Hill]], CFI, ATR, acting for [[Doctors Opposing Circumcision(D.O.C.)]], 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(D.O.C.)]]

|last=[[Foregen ]] Staff

|publisher=[[Foregen]]