Advocates supports the elimination of the abstinence-until-marriage reporting criteria under the reauthorized President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Although the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act removed the hard “at least 33%” earmark for abstinence-until-marriage, the legislation established a reporting requirement that is just as onerous. Under current policy, the Office of Global AIDS Coordinator must file a report with Congress on any PEPFAR country that does not spend 50% of its sexual transmission prevention dollars enforcing an “abstinence, be faithful” policy. 

Update: In December of 2009, the Office of Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) released a new five-year strategy for PEPFAR’s second phase. While this strategy called for comprehensive and correct knowledge of HIV transmission among youth, new Country Operational Plan guidance for 2011 still segments information with comprehensive approaches limited to sexually active or high-risk youth.

For more information, please see “Investing in Young People: Solving the Sustainability Challenge in PEPFAR” and “Improving U.S. Global HIV Prevention for Youth: A Critique of the Office of Global AIDS Coordinator’s ABC Guidance.”