Akros partners with College of William and Mary’s AidData, selected as one of DREAMS Challenge winners

By Akros Media on August 5, 2016 in HIV/AIDS, News

On July 18, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR), announced the provisional winners of its $85 million DREAMS innovation challenge to reduce HIV/AIDS rates among adolescent girls and women in sub-Saharan African countries.

Akros is excited to announce that we will be working with the College of William and Mary’s AidData research lab to help policymakers in Zambia make healthcare decisions based on the best available data.
The DREAMS challenge points out that, despite considerable progress in the global response to the epidemic, AIDS is the leading cause of death for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Girls and young women account for 75 percent of all new HIV infections among adolescents in the region, and more than 7,000 new infections a week globally.

DREAMS is an ambitious public-private program whose partners include, in addition to PEPFAR, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Girl Effect, Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences, and Viiv Healthcare. PEPFAR is administered by the U.S. Department of State, and implemented by a number of U.S. government agencies, including DoS and USAID. By improving targeting and resource coordination, PEPFAR programs, particularly those focused on women, girls, orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) can reach more beneficiaries more efficiently and effectively.

Akros and AidData are excited to utilize our combined years of experience to develop solutions in the fight against HIV/AIDS here in Zambia. Learn more about the DREAMS Innovation Challenge at www.dreamschallenge.org.