Commemorating World AIDS Day

On this World AIDS Day, I join President Biden and Vice President Harris in calling for collective action with partners around the world to sustain and accelerate the great progress we have made toward ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Over the past four years, the State Department has worked tirelessly to save lives through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In partnership with foreign governments, PEPFAR has changed the trajectory of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and now supports more than 20 million people on lifesaving treatment across 55 countries around the world. Independent analyses have documented a direct link of this lifesaving work to economic growth across PEPFAR partner countries. Bipartisan action on a clean, five-year reauthorization of PEPFAR is essential to ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat and to implementing the program's plans to sustain success over the long term through partner country and community-led and managed programs.

World AIDS Day is a day to remember the more than 42 million lives lost to HIV/AIDS - a stark reminder of the threat this virus continues to pose if we do not ensure that partner countries have the vision and capacity to sustain a bold response. We must continue to chart a course together that will help communities stay safe and prosperous by ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat.