President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

The Peace Corps’ largest external partnership is with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a commitment from the U.S. government to save lives, prevent HIV infections, and accelerate progress toward achieving HIV/AIDS pandemic control in more than 50 countries around the world.

Peace Corps and PEPFAR

Peace Corps Volunteers around the world work in partnership with host country and local governments to enhance the capacity of organizations from the community to the national level to improve equitable and person-centered care, while providing communities the knowledge and skills necessary to adopt healthy behaviors and implement risk reduction strategies.

The Peace Corps’ role in PEPFAR took on heightened significance in 2012 with the launch of the “PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-Free Generation.” The blueprint was an international triumph, marking a turning point in the response to the disease, setting a significant downward trajectory for the number of new HIV infections and HIV-related deaths.

In 2022, PEPFAR launched their “reimagining the HIV/AIDS response strategy” alternately know as the 5 x 3 strategy. This new strategy is focused on ending the pandemic as a public health threat by 2030 through a focus on sustainable health systems development and equitable service provision.  As we move toward an AIDS-free generation, the Peace Corps continues to do its part by working with partners and communities who have the least access to critical health information and services. Peace Corps trains and supports Volunteers who work specifically on HIV programming and wider efforts at health systems strengthening, as well as Volunteers from other sectors who integrate HIV awareness, education, and prevention activities into their day-to-day work.

PEPFAR results and impact

The Peace Corps has contributed to PEPFAR’s objectives through global and country-level response strategy and coordination. A 2023 report showed that since its launch, PEPFAR has:

• Saved more than 25 million lives
• Supported testing for more than 71 million people
• Trained more than 327,000 health workers

Read more about the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)