Started in May 2001, Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation (Pangaea) is an affiliate of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF). Pangaea's purpose is twofold: 1) to broaden access to effective HIV treatment and care in developing countries, and 2) to support the development of and access to an effective HIV vaccine.

SFAF founded Pangaea in accordance with its mission, which is to end the pandemic and human suffering caused by HIV. In late 2000, SFAF's board of directors underscored the agency's need to address the global impact of HIV and established Pangaea as a dedicated entity for international HIV/AIDS work.

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation was founded in 1982 in response to the HIV crisis and has been an internationally recognized leader in developing effective HIV-related programs and services.

Since its launching, Pangaea has moved quickly to establish "scale-up" HIV treatment access partnerships in developing countries. These partnerships involve working with existing health care delivery systems to incorporate comprehensive HIV treatment and care services linked to HIV prevention programs. This includes treatment of the full spectrum of HIV-related illnesses, management of HIV antiretroviral drugs and delivery of a range of psychosocial and practical support programs and risk reduction support as part of patient care.

Thus far, Pangaea has engaged in treatment access and capacity building initiatives in Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda. Pangaea's work has been organized around the following objectives:

• To work with host country partners to design and test community-based "scale up" models that can effectively deliver comprehensive HIV treatment and care, including delivery of antiretroviral drugs within existing health care infrastructure;
• To integrate proven HIV treatment and care models into existing local, regional and national health care delivery systems; and
• To expand training capacity to increase the pool of physicians, nurses and other health providers for the delivery of HIV treatment and care.

Rwanda

In February 2002, Pangaea began a partnership with the Government of Rwanda, specifically the First Lady's Office of the President and the Ministry of Health to develop models for delivering comprehensive HIV treatment and care, including delivery of HIV antiretroviral (ARV) therapy within existing hospitals and community clinics. In partnership with the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, Pangaea has also been working with the Rwandan Government to develop a national plan for providing comprehensive HIV treatment and care with ARVs throughout the country's health care delivery system. The plan was completed and approved by the Rwandan Cabinet in May, 2003.

South Africa

In April 2001, Pangaea launched an HIV treatment and care access initiative in South Africa with a focus on HIV antiretroviral drug access. This work has involved partnering with a collaboration of South African academic institutions, hospitals and clinics in the provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal and the Western Cape. The initiative's goal has been to support the development of South African models of HIV treatment and care with ARVs that can be replicated and scaled up throughout the country's existing public health care delivery system. Most recently, through an invitation from the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, Pangaea has been working directly with the Government of South Africa in its effort to develop a national plan for providing comprehensive HIV and AIDS care and treatment, including access to ARVs, throughout the country. 

Uganda

In July 2001, Pangaea became the grantee and fiscal agent for an $11 million grant provided by Pfizer Inc and The Pfizer Foundation to support the construction and operation of the Infectious Diseases Institute, an HIV/AIDS clinical care and training facility at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The project is a collaborative initiative among Pfizer, the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care and Prevention in Africa, and Pangaea. Pangaea's role is to oversee construction of the 30,000 square foot facility and to provide fiscal and administrative support for the development and operation of the institute's core programs.