November 2011

EGPAF Launches Fundação Ariel Glaser in Mozambique

November 17, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NOTE: This press release is also available in Portuguese. Click here to read it.

Contact: Denise Alves, dalves@pedaids.org.mz, +258.824.183.961

November 17, 2011, Maputo, Mozambique – The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is proud to announce the formation of Fundação Ariel Glaser contra o SIDA Pediátrico in Mozambique. An affiliate of EGPAF, this local organization has been created as part of EGPAF’s efforts to increase and support country-led HIV programming and to expand local partner capacity. Also known as Fundação Ariel Glaser, the affiliate was officially registered in Mozambique on February 14th 2011, and launched at an event today in Maputo.

“This is an important moment for our foundation and the people of Mozambique,” said Charles Lyons, President and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. “If we are to be successful in our mission to eliminate pediatric AIDS, our combined efforts must be led by national governments and local organizations who best understand the challenges and potential for progress.”

Fundação Ariel Glaser Contra o SIDA Pediátrico is governed, operated, and led by citizens of Mozambique. The new affiliate foundation will help build civil society, HIV/AIDS programming, and local leadership, while strengthening Mozambique’s existing health systems. EGPAF will retain a close relationship with the affiliate, and will work to ensure HIV prevention, care, and treatment services reach the communities that need them.

“Fundação Ariel Glaser will assume local ownership for HIV prevention and care and treatment services work, while EGPAF will maintain a presence in Mozambique to provide technical assistance and capacity building for both operations and programs,” said Dr. Fernando Morales, Country Director for EGPAF in Mozambique.

Fundação Ariel Glaser has strong leadership under its Executive Director, Dr. Paula Vaz, who joined the affiliate in April 2011 with more than 20 years of clinical and executive leadership experience and comprehensive knowledge of the Mozambican health system. She has served as a researcher, clinician, hospital administrator, lecturer, consultant, and National Coordinator of Pediatrics AIDS Treatment at the Ministry of Health, where she directed the nationwide scale-up of pediatric AIDS care and treatment services.

“It is an honor to be a part of such a noble cause, working toward a generation free of HIV in Mozambique,” said Dr. Paula Vaz, Executive Director of Fundação Ariel Glaser Contra o SIDA Pediátrico. “We will work together to ensure that every pregnant, HIV-positive woman in Mozambique has access to effective HIV prevention and treatment services to protect their own health and keep their children HIV-free. By doing this, we can ultimately eliminate pediatric AIDS in Mozambique.”

Fundação Ariel Glaser is currently operating with funding from EGPAF for fiscal year 2011, under Project HEART (Helping Expand Antiretroviral Therapy to Families and Children), which is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fundação Ariel Glaser is supporting Mozambique’s Ministry of Health in HIV care and treatment activities through the implementation of all Project HEART activities in Maputo province.

Fundação Ariel Glaser was named after Ariel Glaser, the daughter of Elizabeth Glaser. Elizabeth Glaser contracted HIV from a blood transfusion in 1981 while giving birth to Ariel. She and her husband later learned that Elizabeth had unknowingly passed the virus on to Ariel through breast milk and that their son, Jake, had contracted the virus in utero. Ariel lost her battle with AIDS in 1988, and Elizabeth Glaser created the Pediatric AIDS Foundation to raise money for critical HIV/AIDS research for children. Elizabeth lost her own battle with AIDS in 1994, and to honor her legacy, the Pediatric AIDS Foundation was renamed the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

In 1988, Ariel Glaser created a painting of how she envisioned the world — as a beautiful garden kept bright with sunshine and surrounded by love. Her inspiration serves as EGPAF’s logo, and now as Fundação Ariel Glaser’s logo, representing hope for children everywhere.

EGPAF initiated its activities in Mozambique in 2004 with prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) programs in two provinces. With the assistance of the U.S. CDC and in collaboration with the Mozambique Ministry of Health, EGPAF expanded to cover the integration of high-quality HIV prevention, care and treatment, and psychosocial support services into primary healthcare services, working in 244 sites in Maputo, Gaza, Nampula, and Cabo Delgado provinces.

Now the newly affiliated Fundação Ariel Glaser contra o SIDA Pediátrico will work in collaboration with the Mozambique Ministry of Health, and partners including EGPAF, to support the provision of high-quality HIV/AIDS services. Fundação Ariel Glaser will help ensure that efforts to reach the shared goal of the elimination of pediatric AIDS are well-integrated into existing provincial and district health systems in Mozambique.

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About The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Fundação Ariel Glaser
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is a worldwide leader in the fight against pediatric AIDS, and has reached more than 13 million women with services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies. It works at more than 5,600 sites in 16 countries to implement prevention and care and treatment services; to further advance innovative research; and to execute strategic and targeted global advocacy activities in order to bring dramatic change to the lives of millions of women, children, and families worldwide.

Fundação Ariel Glaser contra o SIDA Pediátrico (Fundação Ariel Glaser) works to eliminate pediatric AIDS and provide care and treatment for people living with HIV in Mozambique. Fundação Ariel implements innovative strategies to respond to the national HIV epidemic and to ensure access to sustainable health services for children, women, and families. For more information, visit https://pedaids.org/fundacaoarielglaser.