With Gratitude– 25 Years and Millions Helped
I am grateful every day for the opportunity to play my part in the Work of the Children’s AIDS Fund International. With your help, we have been able to help millions over the last 25 years. We started early in the AIDS epidemic, and CAFI has developed a wide-ranging impacts with the singular focus of limiting the suffering of HIV impacted children and their families.
Our Focus: Reduce the Suffering of Children and their Families impacted by HIV
As I look back, I am truly astounded at what we have done together. CAFI has supported more than 1 million HIV impacted children; assisted more than 200,000 HIV impacted families; educated more than 2 million individuals; supported care and treatment for more than 60,000 HIV patients in sub-Saharan Africa; helped gain FDA approval for rapid HIV diagnostics and the ground-breaking Orasure oral HIV test; been engaged in HIV policy from the Ryan White Care Act to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, working with both US political parties on Capitol Hill since President Reagan.
We have worked to provide people with HIV/AIDS access to healthcare ; promote public health interventions (like partner notification) to help stop disease spread; facilitate development of diagnostics, treatments and a cure for HIV; promote early diagnosis (knowledge of HIV status) to help individuals receive the best possible care and prevent infection of others; and advocate compassionate care and support of everyone affected and infected by HIV/AIDS . Working with individuals, families and the general public; faith, community and corporate leaders and their constituencies; national, state and local policy makers in the US and abroad, CAFI was among the US government’s first 11 grantees (with the American Red Cross, AFL-CIO, and others) to help educate and engage the US public and private sectors in America’s Response to AIDS.
Since the early days, scientific advances have dramatically improved our ability to respond to the pandemic and save millions of lives around the world through prevention, treatment and care programs. It has been our privilege to participate in those initiatives.
Join us in celebrating our 25th anniversary, with gratitude for the opportunity to serve so many people in diverse settings and anticipating future goals to make an even greater difference.
The interactive timeline on our website highlights key milestones in CAFI’s 25 year journey to help limit the suffering of HIV impacted children and their families around the globe, all made possible through friends and supporters like you. The level of impact that we have created together in the past 25 years, gives me courage to know that as we look forward, we can see this challenge through to completion.
With Gratitude,
Anita Smith
President