Citing President Obama’s trip to Africa, including a visit to South Africa, Ambassador Eric Goosby, head of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Health Diplomacy and the U.S. global AIDS coordinator, writes in a CNN opinion piece, “[A]s President Obama makes this historic trip to Africa, we are at a point where an AIDS-free generation is within sight,” noting, “With the world’s largest number of people living with HIV and AIDS (5.6 million), South Africa has always been on the front lines of the epidemic.” Goosby discusses the history of U.S. government HIV/AIDS efforts in South Africa, which began in 2003, as well as the successes that have been achieved in the past decade by PEPFAR and its partners, including the South African government and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Goosby states that PEPFAR’s relationship with South Africa has “evolved” and adds, “Last year, we signed an agreement to make our partnership based on co-investment, showcasing South Africa’s leadership in caring for and treating its own people.” “As U.S. funding shifts increasingly to HIV prevention, health systems strengthening and technical support — South Africa is expanding its own investments in the care and treatment of HIV and TB,” he writes, continuing, “These new partnerships with high-burden countries, forged by the Obama administration, have been a driving force in our collective push to achieve an AIDS-free generation.” “Today, I am proud to stand with President Barack Obama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu at one of the pioneering youth and HIV centers in Cape Town,” he writes and concludes, “Thanks to the dedication of President George W. Bush, President Obama and bipartisan support from the U.S. Congress — what a difference a decade has made” (6/30).