Long targeted in abortion battle, U.S. global AIDS program gets new home in state department

The President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that's long successfully provided relief to people with AIDS around the world, will now be housed within the U.S. State Department.

The move comes after years of pressure by anti-abortion groups and some Republican members of Congress to attach abortion-related limits on U.S. health support overseas, including PEPFAR.

The program was started by President George W. Bush in 2003, and has received about $100 billion in U.S. funding over the past two decades. But PEPFAR will now be included within the new Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, part of the State Department, the Associated Press reported.

The newly created bureau is meant to make health security a global priority while building the capacity of U.S. diplomats and local health systems to curb future outbreaks, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-abortion-global-aids-home-state.html