Countering the Spread of HIV/AIDS
During a childhood that took him from West Virginia to Kentucky and then Texas, Robert M. Clay knew he wanted to be a scientist. He followed this calling in 1984 to a position in the Science and Technology Bureau of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Over the next 31 years, he worked to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and other dangerous diseases in developing countries, reducing child mortality and minimizing the danger of these diseases infecting Americans.
Clay spent his career focused on improving primary health care in the developing world and became one of USAID’s experts on programs that promote children’s health. It was through those programs that Clay helped build U.S and international support to combat the global HIV/AIDS crisis that was claiming several million lives each year.
In 1999, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke visited Zambia where Clay was overseeing a project focused on orphans and vulnerable children. “We had probably 200 kids that were in this area playing…,” Clay recalled. “Holbrooke turned to me and he asked how many of these kids are here because of HIV/AIDS. I said, we don’t know for sure but probably seventy to eighty percent. Later on, in an interview that he did on the plane back from Africa, he said a light bulb went off and he began to understand the significance and the scope and enormity of the AIDS epidemic.”
Holbrooke returned to New York and organized a special session of the UN Security Council that sparked a global response, including creation of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria as well as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), launched by President Bush in 2003.
“PEPFAR was and continues to be seen as one of the most successful programs in the U.S. government…”
Robert M. Clay
Clay moved from Zambia to India, continuing to improve health outcomes for children and implementing PEPFAR programs in the field. In 2008, he returned to Washington DC to lead USAID’s Office of HIV/AIDS and direct more than $3 billion in annual PEPFAR work. Coordinating closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Clay solved interagency conflicts, overcame implementation problems, and ensured funds were spent effectively. Experts estimate that PEPFAR saved as many as 25 million lives around the world by delivering critical medication and helping to curb the spread of AIDS.
“You got to see the potential when everyone worked together,” Clay said. “You know the U.S. Government is a very powerful organization with all the wealth of expertise across the board. It is really phenomenal when we all work together…PEPFAR was and continues to be seen as one of the most successful programs in the U.S. government on the outside. It really is viewed as a way in which the government has really been able to tackle an area and make a huge difference.”
