Obama Administration Earmarks $300 Million To Fight HIV Among Young African Women

The Obama administration has announced it is establishing a $300 million ambition program to slash the rate of infection among women 15 to 24-years-old by 25 percent before the end of 2016, and by 40 percent by the end of 2017.

"No greater action is needed right now than empowering adolescent girls and young women to defeat HIV/AIDS," National Security Adviser Susan Rice said in a written statement.

These aggressive new targets represent the next phase for the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program originally launched by President George W. Bush but expanded under President Barack Obama’s administration. To date, PEPFAR is credited with saving millions of lives in Africa.

The current goals were released ahead of a U.N. summit on development goals for ending poverty around the world.

According to the administration, more than 1,000 adolescent girls and young women become HIV-positive every day — that's 380,000 every year. The HIV prevention efforts targeting young woman will focus on 10 countries that have accounted for nearly half of all new HIV infections among girls and young women in 2014. Those nations are Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Funds for the program had already been allocated to PEPFAR but is reportedly being repurposed.

The administration also announced new treatment targets, including the goal of getting nearly 13 million people on antiretroviral treatment by the end of 2017.