Regional PEPFAR Director-USAID West Africa

USAID/West Africa (USAID/WA) is a regional operating unit of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), responsible for managing development programs that cover 21 countries, eight of which have bilateral USAID missions. USAID/WA coordinates the West Africa Regional Platform under PEPFAR, which includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. With a combined population of 129 million inhabitants (World Bank Data, 2021), the West Africa U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Region has an estimated 899,000 total People Living with HIV (PLHIV) of which 69% were on antiretroviral therapy in 2022 (Spectrum 2022). Only four out of the eight West Africa countries have reached or were close to reach in 2022, the level of antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage expected in 2020 for the second 90 target of the former 90-90-90 targets (81% of total PLHIV are on antiretroviral therapy): Benin (88%), Togo (82%), Burkina Faso (81%), and Senegal (80%). There are significant disparities in ART coverage, viral load coverage and suppression among children, key populations, and adult men compared to adult women. The ART coverage among children ranges from 61% in Togo to 18% in Sierra Leone (Spectrum 2022). The region is also affected by the insecurity situation in the Sahel and frequent cases of stigmatization, discrimination, and violence against key populations and PLHIV which hinder timely access to health services for vulnerable and key populations. The West Africa Region health systems are fragile with lack of quality data and data use for decision making, frequent stock out of health commodities, lack of integrated and effective lab systems, and a dependence on external funding. USAID/WA’s vision is to catalyze sustained epidemic control in eight countries in the West Africa Region by leveraging national and donors’ investments to implement adaptive, person-centered, and evidence-based interventions to reach, test, treat, retain on HIV treatment, and achieve viral suppression for Key Populations (KP) and PLHIV in settings with the greatest HIV burden. USAID/WA supports HIV programming mainly with governments and civil society organizations in Burkina Faso, Togo, and Benin. The Mission’s goal with PEPFAR funding is to accelerate progress in these three countries toward achieving the UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals by 2025 (95% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 95% of those who know their status are on lifesaving antiretroviral therapy and 95% of those who are on antiretroviral therapy are virally suppressed) and eliminate HIV/AIDS by 2030. USAID/WA’s vision is to catalyze sustained epidemic control in eight countries in the West Africa Region by leveraging national and donors’ investments to implement adaptive, person-centered, and evidence-based interventions to reach, test, treat, retain on HIV treatment, and achieve viral suppression for Key Populations (KP) and PLHIV in settings with the greatest HIV burden. Through bilateral-funded activities including #Ending AIDS in West Africa, USAID/WA supports health workers at facilities and at the community level to provide comprehensive and effective HIV prevention, care and treatment services to key and general populations in high burden HIV areas, including interventions against gender-based violence, stigma, and discrimination.