What You Should Know About the FAPP, GAPP and PEPFAR Reauthorization

Dear Advocate, 

Engaging the US government is vital to advocacy for HIV prevention, as one of the world’s largest contributors to implementation and research and development. The reach and scale of US funded global health programs have profound impact on the lives and health of people in the US and around the world. Two coalitions, founded by advocates, make it their central mission to inform and influence the US federal government to advance funding and policies to end the HIV epidemic.  

In 2024, their work will be as important as at any time in the history of HIV advocacy; as funding for US programs is at stake and advocacy continues for the reauthorization of PEPFAR, one of the greatest US foreign policy and global development achievements in history.

AVAC’s John Meade was just elected co-chair of the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership (FAPP), a national coalition of more than 120+ local, regional, and national organizations advocating for federal funding, legislation and policy to end the HIV epidemic in the United States. John and co-chairs, Mike Weir of NASTAD and Kathie Hiers of AIDS Alabama,  will support the work of seven affiliated working groups, including the AIDS Budget and Appropriation Coalition and the Research Working Group, to produce analysis, build relationships with federal entities, and champion policies and funding that are essential to making progress.  

And AVAC’s Suraj Madoori co-chairs the Global AIDS Policy Partnership (GAPP), a 70 member coalition that leads advocacy for continued robust funding, expansion and improvement of US global HIV/AIDS programming through PEPFAR and the Global Fund. With co-chairs Katie Lapides Coester of EGPAF and Shannon Kellman, formerly of Friends of the Global Fight, now at UNAIDS, this coalition — comprised of civil society and faith-based organizations, funders, professional membership organizations and organizations that implement programs — will continue working every channel to spotlight success, combat misinformation and seize opportunities to secure a new five-year reauthorization of PEPFAR. See AVAC’s blog here.  

Since its creation in 2003 and through previous 5-year reauthorizations, PEPFAR has received near universal, bipartisan support in Congress. This past year, partisan lobbyists and their congressional allies derailed easy passage of its next 5-year reauthorization. In 2024, the GAPP will be mobilizing against efforts to politicize this singularly successful program, and will be working for renewed bipartisan support through the final resolution of federal budget negotiations.  

The efforts of the GAPP and the FAPP will remain essential to ensure sustained funding for efforts to end the epidemic, to save overall HIV funding and advance a national PrEP program in the US, and to win the reauthorization of PEPFAR. Be sure to watch this space for updates. 

Best,

AVAC