In the absence of a cure for HIV, for the past 30 years this question has been the center of debate. For those of us who have dedicated our lives to the fight against AIDS, recent research has given us a glimmer of hope—and may have finally ended this debate.

In May, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released results from the HPTN 052 study which indicate that putting an HIV-positive person on treatment as soon as HIV infection was detected reduced the risk of them transmitting the virus to their sexual partners by 96%. Ninety-six percent. The evidence was so compelling that the trial was actually ended early and results published years before expected. For anyone who has worked in the uncertainty of research, this just doesn’t happen.

EFA’s beneficiaries have experienced these benefits first-hand. Since receiving treatment, their improved health status has empowered them to become HIV advocates, peer educators, and leaders in their communities, gaining the respect of those who once stigmatized them.

Today is World AIDS Day

Today, on World AIDS Day 2011, over 50 EFA peer educators are conducting community-wide education events in over ten communities. Some members are sitting down with local religious and traditional leaders to explain how they can help achieve an AIDS-free generation. Others are going door-to-door, encouraging people to get tested for HIV at the local health center, and describing why an AIDS-free generation is important to their community.

We have the technology. For the first time ever we can actually see the way forward. We can envision an AIDS-free generation. Not a generation free of HIV, but free of AIDS.

Treatment IS prevention

So, forget the debate—treatment IS prevention. Putting people living with HIV on treatment early will not only extend their lives, but will also prevent new HIV infections among their HIV-negative sexual partners.

The tragedy is that this innovative and groundbreaking research comes at a time of declining levels of funding for HIV, of donor “fatigue” for financing national HIV programs, and of re-shifting priorities away from HIV strategies and towards broader health sector initiatives.

The United States government has taken a significant step. During a speech delivered by Secretary Clinton at the National Institutes of Health in November, she re-committed the U.S. government’s development efforts towards supporting the global AIDS response in achieving an AIDS-free generation. It is time for other governments to meet this call.

Education, empowerment, and enterprise

Since 2005, EFA has supported children, youth, and families in Cameroon. Our Youth Empowerment Network supports HIV positive youth in nine communities in northern Cameroon and provides ongoing support through education, empowerment, and enterprise.

Through our Peer Education program our members learn the tools they need to stay healthy, live positively, and they receive education on antiretroviral drug adherence and strategies. Our peer education program trains members to go out into their communities and educate others about the basics of HIV transmission and prevention, and the importance of getting tested.

In 2011, our peer educators provided basic HIV education to over 20,000 people, and over 5,000 people were referred to their local health center to get an HIV test.

We empower our members to advocate for their rights. In September, when all of the public hospitals in northern Cameroon hit six months without the laboratory reagents necessary for monitoring the efficacy of their treatment regimens, members of the Youth Empowerment Network visited a private hospital in the area and negotiated that all members of EFA’s network would be able to access these important monitoring tests at the private clinic, while paying the normal public facility costs.

We promote enterprise through collective and individual income-generating activities. Our members work together to create employment opportunities for themselves and other association members, so that they may financially provide for their own medical needs and for their families.

We can do this together

We are proud of our work and proud of the accomplishments of our HIV-positive beneficiaries. We have turned a new page in the HIV response. Today, on World AIDS Day 2011, it is time for us to look back at all we have accomplished and look to the future. Look towards an AIDS-free generation. We can do it. We can reach that goal through our collective efforts. We can do this together.

EFA is doing its part and we would like to graciously thank you for the support you’ve given us over the past six years. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you, but we’ve still got a long way to go and count on your continued support.

We are together. Nous sommes ensemble,

Andrew Koleros
Co-Founder and Member, Board of Directors
EFA International

Check out the latest reports from UNAIDS. Data is showing that the rate of new HIV infections in Cameroon is stabilizing, which is a good sign. This means that people are practicing safer sex, accessing treatment to reduce the likelihood of transmitting HIV to others, and ensuring that pregnant mothers do not pass HIV to their children.

But there’s certainly still work to be done. May this day inspire you and remind you of the importance of leading a healthy life, fighting discrimination, and promoting health for all.

A peer educator-in-training demonstrates the strength of a condom during an EFA training in May 2009.

The efforts of Cameroonian youth to prevent new HIV infections through safer sex is showing results!  A recent UNAIDS study reports that both males and females in Cameroon are using condoms more frequently with their partners.

I would be completely remiss if I did not take this opportunity to thank my Peace Corps colleagues: Brian, Josh, Dan, Brad, and Phil.  They, with their counterparts, tirelessly facilitated 61 sessions over the course of the program. And not easy sessions, given the taboos that exist here and the topics being discussed!  In addition, we Peace Corps volunteers are all tremendously lucky to have Cameroonian counterparts, like Alim and Amada, who joined us in the facilitation and who drove the participants to consistently dig deeper into the issues at hand.    

 I thank you, all who have helped to make the Men As Partners program possible! Your generosity has not gone unnoticed! The participants thank you! And — by extension— their communities thank you!!

National health systems must be reinforced to provide sustainable HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care for its people. One way to ensure sustainability is to invest in laboratories, national health science researchers and medical personnel.

Inadequate laboratory services prevent the effective treatment of HIV and AIDS because they prevent people from knowing their status. It also hinders doctors from effectively treating AIDS patients, as they must monitor different components in a person’s body, such as red and white blood cell counts, in order to prescribe the right ARVs (Antiretrovirals).

-Rachel Hoy, MPH

• Individual: Helping HIV+ people to understand their disease and its implications means that they can live longer and healthier lives.  EFA’s work includes sharing information to help people make healthy choices concerning their reproductive health, and encouraging individuals to get informed about their serostatus.
• Family: Informed family members can provide better support to HIV+ individuals, help fight stigma, and have a better understanding that HIV is a disease like any other.  EFA’s work helps to prevent future HIV infections by preventing partner transmission, as well as MTCT (mother to child transmission).
• Community:  Knowledge of HIV prevention can help stop its spread in high risk populations.  EFA’s work also aims to reduce stigma in communities.
• National:  A better understanding of the epidemiology of HIV and a commitment to applying evidence leads to better focused and more effective public health programming. EFA’s work includes sharing information about the importance of national research and the need to reinforce laboratory capacity to manage individual cases as well as advance research. By improving local, regional, and national health care centers (primary, secondary, tertiary), HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care can be integrated more effectively.  EFA’s work promotes understanding about the increased prevalence of TB and other opportunistic infections among seropositive people and advocates for support from bilateral and multilateral donors.
• International: HIV affects economic and societal development.  EFA shares information about these effects and advocates for HIV+ persons in order to reduce stigma and promote continued research about the disease and its prevention, care, and treatment.