The “progress and momentum” behind stopping mother-to-child HIV transmission is “reason to celebrate,” Charles Lyons, president and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Peter Twyman, CEO of Keep a Child Alive, write in The Hill’s “Congress Blog.” However, “as we set our sights on an AIDS-free generation, we must once again ensure that children currently living with HIV are not left behind,” they state. “Unfortunately, we’re not seeing the same level of progress with access to services for children who are already living with the virus,” they write and describe the challenges children and their families face in gaining access to HIV treatment and care, including stigma and fear and a lack of antiretroviral drug formulations for children.

“After three decades of global emergency responses and a series of scientific breakthroughs in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it is now tempting to ask if we are marching towards the end of AIDS,” an editorial in the Lancet states. Noting the November 29 release of the U.S. Government’s PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-Free Generation, the Lancet writes, “The first and foremost signal the report has sent is that the U.S. commitment to the global AIDS response will continue to be ‘strong, comprehensive and driven by science,'” and the report “calls on partner countries, civil society, donors, foundations, multilateral institutions, and people living with HIV to step up together and make concrete commitments.” The editorial continues, “The vision of ‘an AIDS-free generation’ in the blueprint relies heavily on scientific and technological feasibility … However, eradicating a disease goes far beyond scientific advances, which will go unrealized without strong social support and public health actions as well as substantial and sustainable investments.”

Test-And-Treat Model For Tackling HIV Not ‘Common Sense’ In a Guardian opinion piece, columnist Elizabeth Pisani challenges the assumptions made by the “mathematical model that shows that if we test everyone in Africa for HIV once a year and give everyone who tests positive expensive drugs right away and for…

Global Health Leaders Respond To Recent New York Times’ Opinion Pieces Two global health leaders respond to AIDS-related opinion pieces in the New York Times letters section. The first letter, Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, addresses an opinion piece by Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus of Cape Town and honorary chairman of the Global AIDS…

Food Aid Hindered Progress Of Democracy In Africa “The best way to help the millions of hungry people in countries that receive food aid get rid of their corrupt and incompetent rulers – and to ensure that their children will never go hungry in future — is to starve them now.…

Abortion Undermines MDG Targets “The overarching and noble goal [of this week’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) summit in New York] is reducing global poverty. But the most compelling and achievable objectives – huge reductions in maternal and child mortality worldwide – will be severely undermined if the Obama administration either directly or…

U.S. Global Fund Commitment A Times of Trenton editorial looks at the work of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which is “estimated to have already saved 5 million lives, enables programs that prevent and treat infections, eliminate the transmission of HIV from pregnant women to their unborn children,…

Several blogs, publications examine the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) summit: The MDGs serve a dual purpose “helping the poor countries to fight poverty and the rich countries to preserve a sense of social solidarity,” writes Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute in a post on the Guardian’s…

GHI Builds On PEPFAR HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment Programs A VOA News editorial by the U.S. government reflects on last month’s International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010, including key advancements such as the vaginal microbicide gel found to offer women some protection against HIV infection as well discussions about funding for the fight against HIV/AIDS and how the “criminalization…

Africans’ Involvement Helps Fight Malaria On The Continent In an East African opinion piece, U.N. Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers; Mark Green, the director of the Malaria No More Policy Center; and John Bridgeland, vice chairman of Malaria No More, highlight Africans’ involvement in addressing malaria on the continent.…