Hewlett Foundation supports work to link HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health programmes

News from the International HIV/AIDS Alliance

31 January 2006: for immediate release

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance has received a grant of $450,000 from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to develop its work integrating HIV/AIDS and family planning and reproductive health programmes. The money is part of $1,175,000 in grants announced by the Population Program at the Foundation, given to four organisations: the Alliance, the Global AIDS Alliance, the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

Alvaro Bermejo, executive director of the Alliance, said:

“The International HIV/AIDS Alliance has supported thousands of communities in over 40 countries to take action on HIV and AIDS. This new funding from the Hewlett Foundation will allow the Alliance to take forward learning gained from existing programs that are integrating HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health services and policies to increase the impact of these programmes on the ground, and allow individuals to realize their sexual and reproductive health rights.

“Integrating these two areas of work presents exciting new opportunities – both by creating new ways of reaching people affected by and vulnerable to HIV and AIDS, and by influencing national and international policy and financial environments to increase the integration of HIV/SRH responses to the pandemic.”

In the developing world, many HIV infections are sexually transmitted or associated with poor reproductive health. However, HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment programs have only recently begun to build on those linkages in order to reach more people and address the factors that make them more vulnerable to infection, such as lack of access to adequate health care and education and gender inequality.

The Hewlett Foundation’s Population Program makes grants to promote good family planning and reproductive health outcomes for people around the world, and especially in the poorest regions of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The Program seeks to improve access to family planning and reproductive health care and supports direct services, research, and policy development in this field.

“These grants support organisations that are tackling two of the world’s most pressing health problems – HIV/AIDS and a lack of quality reproductive health care,” said Sara Seims, Population Program Director at the Hewlett Foundation. “Addressing these related challenges will help improve the well being of people who are at greatest risk.”

Ends

Editor’s notes

  1. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance, established in 1993, is Europe’s largest organisation focused on HIV/AIDS and international development. It works through an alliance of linking organisations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe to mobilize and strengthen community action on HIV and AIDS. The Alliance provides technical and financial support to civil society and other organisations that support the communities most affected by HIV/AIDS. The Alliance has worked with community organisations from over 40 countries, provided financial support to over 3,000 projects (implemented by over 2,000 community and faith-based groups). Expenditure in 2005 alone is expected to reach approximately USD 45 million.
  2. For more information about the work of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and to arrange interviews, please contact Simon Moore. T: 01273 718744. E: smoore@aidsalliance.org or Rhian Evans. T: 01273 718961. E: revans@aidsalliance.org
  3. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, http://www.hewlett.org, has been making grants since 1966 to help solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. The Foundation concentrates its resources on activities in education, environment, global development, performing arts, philanthropy, population, and makes grants to support disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. A full list of all the Hewlett Foundation’s grants can be found at http://www.hewlett.org/grants.