Celebrating partnerships that lead to sustainable, locally managed HIV/AIDS response efforts

Mary Fanning, South Africa's country coordinator for PEPFAR, writes in a New Age guest column, "In the fight against HIV/AIDS, this is a time of hope. It's also a time to celebrate the partnerships that are advancing this work and to recommit to a plan to ensure prevention, treatment and care for those infected and affected is sustainable and locally managed," adding, "Ultimately, whether it's putting more people on treatment, supporting HIV testing campaigns or leveraging mass media to drive the prevention message, the partnership between the U.S. and South African governments saves lives."

Referencing a jointly developed partnership framework signed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South Africa Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in 2010, which "prioritizes the transitioning of ownership of the full national HIV response, including treatment and care of infected and affected people" from PEPFAR to the South African government, she writes that "the expansion of prevention, care and treatment services is key, as more people transition to government-supported services" (9/20).