By Nigel Gibbs, Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC).

This study analyzes the effects of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief’s (PEPFAR) Sustainable Financing Initiative for HIV/AIDS (SFI). This program examined the efforts taken to save lives, prevent HIV infections, and accelerate progress toward controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 16 countries and the Caribbean and Asia regions, with a budget of nearly $48 million.

SFI deployed technical expertise from around the world to design, test, and scale up new financing approaches. SFI helped countries improve the management of new and existing resources, leverage the unique advantages of the private sector, and expand health insurance benefits for people living with HIV. By pursuing these approaches, SFI enabled more people to receive affordable, convenient, and client-centered HIV services. SFI’s support has put countries on a more sustainable path toward an AIDS-free generation. Many countries made unprecedented increases to their budget allocations for HIV and health, helping hundreds of thousands of people living with HIV obtain lifesaving care.

SFI focused on three pillars of engagement: public financial management, private-sector engagement, and financial protection. Each pillar is detailed in this report.