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U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Mark Dybul meets with a 14-year-old member of N’Zrama, an association of OVC, in Bouake. They are flanked by Ivorian National HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment Program Director Dr. Virginie Traore, left, and PEPFAR Country Coordinator Jyoti Schlesinger.

Cote d’Ivoire HIV/AIDS program draws support from top U.S. official

The leader of all U.S.-supported HIV/AIDS activities worldwide arrived in Abidjan Monday (July 16, 2007) to consult with top Ivorian government officials and get a firsthand look at the country’s fight against the epidemic.

Ambassador Mark Dybul, who as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator heads the $15 billion PEPFAR initiative in 100 countries, was joined by Global Fund executive director Michel Kazatchkine and U.S. Ambassador Aubrey Hooks for visits with President Laurent Gbagbo; Prime Minister Soro Guillaume; Minister of the Fight Against AIDS Christine Adjobi; Minister of Health Allah Kouadio Remy; Minister of National Education Gilbert Bleu Lainé; Minister of Family, Women, and Social Affairs Jeanne Peumond; and representatives of civil society.

Dybul also visited HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment projects funded by PEPFAR before heading to Bouake for another round of site visits.

Dybul heads the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest initiative in history dedicated to fighting a single disease. U.S. President Bush recently announced that he will seek to double PEPFAR’s funding, to $30 billion, for its second five-year phase.

Cote d’Ivoire, one of the 15 priority countries chosen for intensive support in the fight against HIV/AIDS, is receiving $84 million in PEPFAR funding this year, an increase of 78 percent over last year’s budget.

PEPFAR-funded partners – ranging from Ivorian government ministries to local community- and faith-based organizations – implement comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment programs throughout Cote d’Ivoire. The United States is also the largest contributor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which supports major health initiatives throughout the world.

Dybul’s site visits in Abidjan included CePReF, a family-centered HIV/AIDS care and treatment facility in Yopougon run by the Ivorian NGO ACONDA VS, and the RETRO-CI lab and complex. In Bouake, he visited Centre Solidarite Action Sociale, which provides HIV/AIDS testing, treatment, and care, including for orphans and vulnerable children; community HIV prevention activities by the Muslim faith-based organization REMCI; the Bouake branch of the national blood bank, which will be rehabilitated with PEPFAR support; Renaissance Sante Bouake, which provides HIV/AIDS prevention and care services; and Hôpital Catholique Saint Camille, which in addition to HIV testing and treatment specializes in mental-health services.

PEPFAR’s financial and technical support to more than 100 partners and subpartners has produced significant results in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Cote d’Ivoire, including antiretroviral treatment for more than 36,300 people, palliative-care services to more than 44,000 people, and care and support for more than 24,000 orphans and other vulnerable children.