Researchers say U.S. HIV aid helped prevent 741,000 deaths

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States foreign aid program that sends billions of dollars to African countries for HIV treatment and prevention has cut the number of people dying for any reason in those nations, a new study suggests.

Reuters reports that researchers had previously shown that the initiative - the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR - had prevented deaths from AIDS. But it was unclear if more people in those countries were only dying of tuberculosis or malaria instead, researchers explained.

According to the new findings, about 741,000 deaths were averted in 2004 through 2008 in the 12 African countries with PEPFAR programs, such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

PEPFAR, created by President George W. Bush in 2003, promotes HIV prevention, screening and modern treatment by building local health care facilities, training workers and making sure countries have reliable ways to get AIDS drugs. Non-governmental organizations and universities do the work with U.S. grants and incentives.

Data for the new study came from surveys done with adult women in 27 African countries, including nine with PEPFAR programs.

Women were asked about their adult siblings and recent deaths in their families. The researchers used that information to calculate approximately how many adults in each country were dying every year, for any reason.

The 741,000 deaths from any cause prevented is not too far off from previous estimates on the number of HIV-related deaths averted with PEPFAR - so it's unclear if the program has had an effect on other diseases as well, the researchers said.