15+ Years Of PEPFAR: How US Action On HIV/AIDS Has Changed Global Health

In May 2003, the U.S. Congress passed bipartisan legislation authorizing a bold new plan to combat a fast-spreading, deadly epidemic. In the 15+ years since, the President’s Emergency Fund for Aids Relief – widely referred to as PEPFAR – has become the largest global health program focused on a single disease in history. Investing over $80 billion in HIV/Aids treatment, prevention and research, PEPFAR has saved millions of lives and put 14 million people on treatment.  

On October 7, 2019, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Harvard Global Health Institute will host a one-day symposium to explore what enabled this visionary program, and to showcase how it has transformed not just the worldwide HIV/AIDS response but global health delivery more broadly. 

There are many lessons learned in PEPFAR’s story – from what it took to build a supply chain where there was none, to establishing the use of generic antiretroviral therapies (ARTs) and leveraging human capacity. Join us as we convene the early architects of PEPFAR as well as experts and implementers currently leading the charge. We will take a historically informed look at what it will take to stop global transmission and share tools useful for others hoping to move the needle on vexing problems in global health.

This event is cosponsored by the Harvard Global Health Institute, the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research, the Center for Health Law Policy and Innovation at Harvard Law School, and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.

AGENDA 

8:30 – 9:00 am | Registration + Breakfast

9:00 – 9:15 am | Welcome Remarks

9:15 – 10:15 am | The Birth of PEPFAR

10:15 – 11:00 am | The Early Years (2003-2009): A New Epidemic That Requires New Approaches 

11:00 – 11:15 am | Break 

11:15 am – 12:45pm | Lessons Learned I: International Perspectives 

12:45 – 1:30 pm | Lunch break              

1:30 – 2:00 pm | Diving Deeper (2009 to 2013): From an Emergency Response to 

Local Ownership and Systems Strengthening  

2:00 – 3:30 pm | Lessons Learned II: Getting to Zero 

Phyllis Kanki, D.Sc., D.V.M., Mary Woodward Lasker Professor of Health Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health

Paul Farmer, M.D., Ph.D., Kolokotrones University Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Co-Founder & Chief Strategist, Partners in Health 

Robert Greenwald, J.D., Clinical Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Harvard University Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, and Health Law and Policy Clinic

Shahin Lockman, M.D., Associate Director, Harvard University Center for AIDS Research

Moderator: Maureen Goodenow, Ph.D., NIH Associate Director for AIDS Research and Director of the NIH Office of AIDS Research   

3:30 – 3:45 pm | Break   

3:45 – 4:45 pm | Taking it Forward (2014+) 

4:45 – 5:00 pm | Closing Remarks       

5:00 – 6:00 pm | Poster Session & Reception