2023 Year in Review
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is the global leader in the fight to end AIDS in children, youth, and families. 2023 marked our 35th year of single-minded progress toward that achievable goal.
Read on to learn about our strategic interventions, our impact around the globe, our commitment to operational excellence, and our ongoing challenge to achieve an AIDS-free generation.
Our Legacy
EGPAF was founded in 1988, when there were no long-term treatments to save children living with HIV and with most HIV research focusing on adults. After Elizabeth Glaser’s daughter died from advanced HIV disease (commonly known as AIDS) in 1988, Elizabeth and two friends, Susie Zeegen and Susan DeLaurentis, joined forces to gather the best scientific minds and spur innovation to ensure that children are not left behind.
They envisioned a world in which no other mother loses a child because of AIDS. Read more about our story.
Strategic Impact
EGPAF’s work ranges from direct delivery of HIV services to exploring new advocacy approaches on behalf of children.
Global Impact
EGPAF continues Elizabeth’s mission to end AIDS in children, weaving together national and international advocacy for children with programmatic research, capacity building, and integrated and comprehensive programs in countries hit hardest by the HIV pandemic. We are currently working in 20 countries.
Operational Excellence
As we work with urgency to achieve our mission of ending AIDS in children, adolescents, and families, we do so with an eye on excellence and efficiency as an organization. We prioritize the needs of the people we serve, and we foster a positive organizational culture. We emphasize strong management principles throughout the organization, hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards, and administer funds responsibly as a good steward. Read more about our mission, vision, and core values.
Ethics and Accountability
EGPAF’s Awards and Compliance and Internal Audit departments work together to promote a culture of high ethics throughout the organization. Internal Audit is an independent function that examines and evaluates EGPAF’s risk management, governance, and internal control processes to ensure that they are operating effectively and to ensure that staff understands and adheres to established policies, procedures, and regulations—while maintaining the highest ethical standards.
Read more about our structure for ethics and accountability.
We maintain rigorous policies of privacy and informed consent for any individual engaging with EGPAF, surpassing international standards when it comes to protecting the identities of individuals who receive or otherwise engage with EGPAF programs. And we ensure that any individual who does choose to share their likeness and/or personal story on EGPAF communication channels undergoes a thorough process of informed consent such that they are opting in to the activity and fully understand how their image and/or story will be used. Further, we maintain the highest level of privacy and behavior when it comes to protecting the rights, safety, and well-being of children.
A Global Team
The EGPAF global team is comprised of more than 2,500 staff worldwide—more than 95% of whom are African nationals residing in the countries in which they work.
EGPAF’s work is guided by a global leadership team consisting of executive leadership, senior leadership, regional directors, and country directors. EGPAF’s board of directors focuses on the high-level strategy, oversight, and accountability.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
In 2023, under the leadership of Refiloe Lebese, EGPAF continued activities to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Throughout the year, EGPAF trained managers in DEIB principles for a diverse and inclusive workplace and established DEIB committees in all countries where EGPAF has an office.
In addition, an employee resource group, Marsha’s Kids, held monthly meetings and focused attention on LGBTQ+ issues and opportunities. Work began on revising EGPAF’s writing style guide to ensure that communication at EGPAF is inclusive and does not reinforce stigma or negative stereotypes.
“DEIB requires us to broaden our knowledge and open our minds to unfamiliar territories, with a willingness to listen and learn, exercise patience, and be accommodative.” – DEIB Director Refiloe Lebese
Read an interview with DEIB Director Refiloe Lebese.
Read more about EGPAF’s DEIB policy.
Climate Change
As a Global Health organization, EGPAF has the responsibility to ensure it is advocating for and implementing activities related to environmental and climate justice in the countries and communities where it works while also reducing its own negative global impact on the environment.
In spring 2023, EGPAF CEO Chip Lyons signed the Climate and Environmental Charter for Humanitarian Organizations. Ongoing, EGPAF’s Climate Change Committee aims to spur action within the organization to reduce the environmental impacts in projects and pursue climate change mitigation through carbon footprint assessments and response.
Read about some young climate champions affiliated with EGPAF.
Read more about EGPAF’s commitment to address climate change.
2023 in Numbers
From its small but determined beginning, EGPAF has changed the trajectory and longevity of countless lives through research, advocacy, and antiretroviral interventions for women living with HIV and children at risk of acquiring HIV. We have simultaneously worked to ensure that those children who do acquire HIV have the possibility of a long and healthy life.
By the numbers, we have accomplished the following since our founding:
More than 33 million pregnant women
worldwide provided with services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies.
More than 410,000 new HIV infections in children
averted by offering prevention of mother-to-child services to pregnant women.
More than 15,000 sites
supported, offering HIV counseling, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services—alongside high-quality family healthcare.
Beyond the Numbers
Throughout our history, we have seen that programs to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission—while essential—are simply the first tactic to ensuring that a child grows up healthy and AIDS-free.
A child needs a healthy family, a healthy community, in which to thrive and easily find health treatments and avoid risky situations. Our work with male involvement, adolescent support, pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP/PEP), electronic medical records, community-based partnerships, and even climate change all speak to our holistic approach.
Our 2024 Challenge
These accomplishments bolster our resolve to do our part to meet the UN goal of virtually ending AIDS by 2030–but we still have much work ahead.
Children continue to lag adults when it comes to access to HIV services, research, and policies. Approximately 430 children under the age of 14 acquire HIV every day. Without treatment, 50% of HIV-positive children will die before their second birthday and most will die before the age of 5. This is a health equity issue.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, such as drops in funding, have slowed our progress, so now is the time to redouble our efforts and seek ways to innovate through strategic partnerships.
During 2024, we will begin work on our next strategic plan, which will be targeted to 2026–2030, with 2030 set as the goal to virtually eliminate AIDS in children, youth, and families. Read our 2020–2025 Strategic Plan.
On World AIDS Day 2023 (December 1), we challenged the world to refocus its attention: Now is the time to finish the fight for an AIDS-free generation.
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