Jhpiego News Release - Jhpiego President and CEO responds to World AIDS Day

Baltimore, Md. – Dr. Leslie Mancuso, President and CEO of Jhpiego, an international health affiliate of The Johns Hopkins University, today issued the following statement in response to World AIDS Day on 1 December 2005:

"World AIDS Day is a time to not only remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS and those who are suffering from this devastating disease, but to honor the dedicated individuals and organizations across the globe that are working hard to eradicate HIV/AIDS.

As we celebrate World AIDS Day, I encourage everyone to share their successes and to celebrate the progress of others. The statistics can be daunting and make the global AIDS crisis seem insurmountable. But there is hope. In only a few short years in Jamaica, Jhpiego has trained over 900 HIV/AIDS counselors in collaboration with the Ministry of Health’s National AIDS Program, HIV testing and counseling is now routine in antenatal care and STI clinics and 90% of pregnant women attending public clinics are tested for HIV. Likewise, in Ethiopia we introduced training and service delivery programs in Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV in 25 hospitals, counseled and tested 5,860 women and administered Nevirapine to help prevent HIV transmission to 400 children.

We have made great strides in partnering with the Ministries of Health in developing countries, along with governmental and non-governmental organizations and the private sector to bring HIV/AIDS awareness, education, prevention, treatment, care and support to women and their families. Jhpiego celebrates these collaborative actions with our partner organizations as they reflect this year's theme 'Keep the Promise'.

We also acknowledge that HIV/AIDS does not discriminate and are committed to conquering the stigmatization of and prejudice toward those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS."

About Jhpiego
For nearly 40 years, Jhpiego, (pronounced "ja-pie-go"), has empowered front-line health workers by designing and implementing simple, low-cost, hands-on solutions that strengthen the delivery of health care services, following the household-to-hospital continuum of care. We partner with community- to national-level organizations to build sustainable, local capacity through advocacy, policy and guidelines development, and quality and performance improvement approaches.