PEPFAR & South Africa: The Case for Unilateralism in Global Health

HIV/AIDS exists in a rapidly globalizing world, but areas such as South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa bear the greatest burden of the disease. The World Health Organization has created UNAIDS and a multitude of NGOs have also sprung up in response. However, the United States' President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the first state-sponsored organization entirely funded by the government and various charities. The creation and implementation of this act can be seen as a unilateral act by the US in the global health arena and a departure away from individual states only funding unilateral campaigns within their own borders, which gives rise to the questions of the motives of the US in providing this AID outside of established global agencies such as UNAIDS. By Examining the case of South Africa, the conclusion will be reached that PEPFAR is a success. There has been noticeable and positive change in the country since the US intervention in the form of PEPFAR. An analysis and review of PEPFAR in South Africa will serve as evidence for the success of PEPFAR and the case for the US's continued unilateralism in global healthcare.