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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

William A. Smith, Public Policy Office, Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US (SIECUS), 1706 R St NW, Washington, DC 20009, 202-265-2405, wsmith@siecusdc.org

Issues: The US is spending billions of dollars on promoting the policies of abstinence and marriage as HIV prevention interventions. This raises issues of efficacy, human rights to full information, and relevance of these interventions to the generalized epidemics in nearly all PEPFAR countries. Description: This presentation will present the results of the most comprehensive report to date on the prevention funding under PEPFAR, SIECUS' PEPFAR Country Profiles, as well as more recently collected data from on the ground research in key PEPFAR countries. Lessons Learned: The evidence in support of abstinence and marriage promotion in the US to change behavior is non-existent. Evidence internationally suggests that these interventions may be harmful, undermining support for condoms, and jeopardizing fundamental human rights. Our profiles from all 15 countries documents the flow of US government money into these programs and that they are receiving the majority of prevention funds. Recommendations: We have made 6 specific recommendations to address the need for evidence-based prevention in our international HIV/AIDS initiative. Among these are more transparency in reporting and a repeal of the earmark that 1/3 of all prevention funds be spent on abstinence-until-marriage programming.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to identify the role of abstinence and marriage promotion as the centerpiece of US HIV Prevention policy and programming internationally.
• Participants will receive information from the most comprehensive research to date on this issue, including on-the-ground research in PEPFAR countries.

Keywords: HIV Interventions, HIV Interventions

Related Web page: www.siecus.org/inter/PEPFAR/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered