Advocates for the United States global AIDS relief program PEPFAR are urging supporters not to panic about the political battle that has prevented the initiative’s reauthorization in the U.S. Congress.
While that legislation is important, they say, the program will continue operating without it.
“Just because it hasn't been reauthorized doesn't mean it ends,” Jennifer Kates, director of global health and HIV policy at KFF, said in a webinar on Thursday. “PEPFAR is a permanent part of U.S. law. As long as it continues to be funded by Congress, it continues.”