Institute of Medicine to release ‘Evaluation of PEPFAR’ on Feb. 20

Evaluation of PEPFAR, a new report from the Institute of Medicine, presents the results of an assessment of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as requested by Congress in its reauthorization of funding for the initiative in 2008. The report includes recommendations for how PEPFAR and its partner countries can most effectively sustain and advance gains made in preventing and treating the HIV/AIDS epidemic worldwide. Congress will review the initiative later this year.

The report will be released at a public briefing starting at 9 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 20 in the auditorium of the National Academy of Sciences building, 2101 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. Those who cannot attend may watch a live webcast at http://www.iom.edu/pepfarwebcast.

Participating from the committee that wrote the report:

• Robert Black (chair), chair and Edgar Berman Professor, department of international health, and director, Institute for International Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore
• Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, D.C.
• Ann Kurth, professor and executive director, global division, New York University College of Nursing, New York City
• Dawn Smith, medical epidemiologist, division of HIV/AIDS prevention, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta

Advance copies of the report will be available to reporters only starting at 10 a.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 19. The report is embargoed and not for public release before 9 a.m. EST Feb. 20. To obtain an embargoed copy and arrange interviews with members of the authoring committee, contact the National Academies' Office of News and Public Information; tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail [email protected].