Devex: Right things, right places, right targets — right now
Catherine Connor of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; Erin Hohlfelder of the ONE Campaign; Christine Lubinski of the Infectious Diseases Society of America Education & Research Foundation; Greg Millett of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research; and Kevin Fisher of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention

“…[PEPFAR] has been without targets since December 2013, when the most recent set of targets expired. This is not to say the program has ceased its important work on the ground. Indeed, under current Ambassador Debbi Birx’s leadership, PEPFAR has continued to deliver services and save more lives, even in the absence of targets. So why then do targets matter? Quite simply, targets drive action. … It is time for PEPFAR and the White House to establish new treatment and prevention targets to guide the years ahead. These targets should be announced ahead of September’s U.N. meetings, so that PEPFAR’s vision can be included in and help shape the global dialogue [surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals]. Every week and every month that goes by, we risk losing momentum. And in the fight against AIDS, we have no time to lose” (8/3).