Women living with HIV are up to six times more likely to develop cervical cancer. Too often, women who survive HIV/AIDS lose their lives to a preventable disease. To change that, the George W. Bush Institute launched Go Further in partnership with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and UNAIDS to integrate cervical cancer screening and treatment into existing HIV care systems across sub-Saharan Africa.
Go Further exemplifies priorities in the U.S. government’s new America First Global Health Strategy: to save lives and ensure resilient and durable health systems worldwide. In a recent piece for the Bush Institute, I discuss the success of the Go Further model and its lessons for the U.S. Department of State, PEPFAR, and partner countries as they move forward with implementation.
Figure of the Week
$12 Billion
That is the amount of annual losses in GDP across Africa due to malaria, according to a new report by Malaria No More and the Corporate Council on Africa. This “malaria tax” hampers Africa’s growth and disrupts U.S. businesses in the region.
Every dollar of U.S. investment in African malaria control yields $5.80 in economic growth, directly benefiting U.S. businesses operating in Africa by increasing workers’ productive days and reducing spending. With the continent projected to generate an estimated $16.12 trillion in combined consumer and business spending by 2050, strategic health investment in eradicating malaria benefits the U.S. economy by creating larger markets for U.S. goods and services.
Ally Updates
In September, the Gates Foundation announced a $912 million pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The commitment comes as global development investment is at its lowest level in 15 years, after a 21% decline in 2024 and 2025. This trajectory, if it remains, jeopardizes progress to reduce child mortality and end some of the deadliest childhood diseases. “What’s happening to the health of the world’s children is worse than most people realize, but our long-term prospects are better than most people can imagine,” Bill Gates said in a statement.
Bush Institute Insights
In my most recent piece, “U.S. must remain committed to saving the lives of women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond,” I highlight the remarkable progress achieved through Go Further to assist access to cervical cancer screening and treatment for women living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa – an area where cervical cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease.
To date, Go Further has completed more than 10 million cervical cancer screenings for women living with HIV, and 7 million were among women screened for the first time. Go Further and its partners have treated over 421,000 women for precancerous lesions. These milestones put participating countries on track to end cervical cancer as a public health threat by 2030.
But to sustain this progress, we must continue investing in cervical cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, and care.
In the News
- Viral hepatitis and HIV are spreading among Russian soldiers. Some soldiers with these diseases have been separated into special units and marked by distinctive armbands, reports Meduza. Russia’s practices of segregating and labeling HIV and hepatitis-positive individuals can reinforce stigma and deepen discrimination. In the military, viruses are often transmitted through blood transfusions and wound treatment in combat conditions, shortages of sterile instruments, and blood-to-blood contact in the battlefield. These risks can be minimized through vaccination, treatments, and early identification of infections – interventions that have stagnated in Russia over time.
- An editorial from The Lancet warns that Russia’s HIV epidemic is worsening amid reduced state funding, bans on external financing, and crackdowns on civil society organizations’ activities. In 2024, antiretroviral coverage reached only 50% of people living with HIV, and treatment interruptions affected more than 43,000 individuals. With over 1.2 million people estimated to have HIV in the country, Russia now faces a rapidly expanding epidemic that threatens to overwhelm its already strained public health system.
- The new America First Global Health Strategy framework offers an opportunity for African governments to anchor foreign partnerships within Africa-led health strategies, argues Ebere Okereke in Think Global Health. While maintaining support for programs like PEPFAR, the strategy tied African nations to performance benchmarks and cofinancing requirements. To strengthen health sovereignty, African leaders must shape U.S. engagement through clearly defined bilateral partnerships, coordinated regional negotiation, increased domestic investment, protection of industrial policy, and reciprocal approaches to data and disease surveillance.
- Health officials are warning of a worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 57 cases and 35 deaths have been reported since early September, according to AP News. Experts project that a $20 million response is needed over the next three months, yet current funding covers only a fraction of that amount. Limited vaccine access, poor infrastructure, and reduced international funding are directly posing challenges to containment efforts.
