The Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program’s mission is to enhance global health security by collaborating with partner militaries on HIV-centered programs and health systems.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has a devastating impact on many militaries and other uniformed organizations worldwide by reducing military readiness, limiting deployments, causing physical and emotional decline in infected individuals and their families, posing risks to military personnel and their extended communities, and impeding peacekeeping activities.
DHAPP employs an integrated bilateral and regional strategy for HIV/AIDS cooperation and security assistance. The program strives for sustainable, resilient, and adaptable health systems that will maintain HIV epidemic control and address emerging health threats among military communities.
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
DHAPP is the DOD implementing agency for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, established in 2003. In coordination with the Department of State, Health and Human Services, and the Peace Corps, the PEPFAR team works together to stop the spread of the AIDS virus and reach sustainable epidemic control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
DHAPP’s overall strategy is to work within PEPFAR governance to achieve a healthy and functional military force, which can serve to provide stability and safety to the national and regional population.
The global HIV/AIDS response, including PEPFAR, supports the ambitious global 95-95-95 goals. These goals aim for 95% of people living with HIV to know their status, 95% of those diagnosed to be on antiretroviral treatment, and 95% of those on ART to achieve viral suppression. PEPFAR remains committed to a data-driven approach in working towards these goals, with DHAPP playing a crucial role in ensuring military populations are included and make progress comparable to civilian populations.
What We Do
Nearly all militaries around the world screen out HIV-positive individuals seeking to enlist, and yet most militaries have similar or higher HIV prevalence of their comparable civilians. DHAPP plans activities and sets targets based on the specific context of the partner military and the clients seen at military health facilities. DHAPP also uses information from military HIV seroprevalence studies, programmatic data, or other sources of HIV epidemiologic information to implement programs at military locations with a significant burden of HIV.
Current strategies and interventions employed by DHAPP include:
- Index case HIV testing (testing spouses, sexual partners, and all children of women who test HIV-positive)
- Documentation of every new HIV-positive individual and linking him or her into care and treatment
- Periodically updating military HIV policies to address HIV testing strategies, chain of command notifications, deployments, and antiretroviral treatment initiation and retention to reflect changes in international normative guidance
- Antiretroviral treatment services through mobile units
- Clinical laboratory support