World AIDS Day, 2020

Proclamation 10123 of November 30, 2020

World AIDS Day, 2020

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Today, our Nation joins millions across the globe in
remembrance of the precious lives lost to human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related illnesses, and
we reaffirm our support for those living with these
diseases. Thankfully, decades of remarkable
advancements and improved understanding have put us
within reach of ending its devastating impact. Through
increased awareness, revolutionary prevention
strategies, and safe and effective treatment regimens,
we will soon end the AIDS epidemic once and for all.

Over the past 40 years, HIV and AIDS have infected more
than 77 million people worldwide and claimed no less
than 35 million lives, including those of 700,000
Americans. Currently, there are approximately 1.2
million people living in the United States with HIV,
including roughly 170,000 people who have not been
diagnosed. Additionally, it is all too clear that this
deadly disease disproportionately affects racial and
ethnic minorities.

As President, I promised to end the AIDS crisis in
America within a decade, and I am proud to report that
we are on track to meet that goal. In 2019, I announced
Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America, a bold
whole-of-society approach to eradicating this disease.
Already, we have sent $227 million to cities, counties,
States, local health departments, and community health
centers to support and bolster their efforts. Under
this plan, our Nation's scientists, researchers, and
medical professionals have been able to identify where
HIV is spreading most rapidly, which informs decisions
about where to focus funding and provide support to
public health officials who are addressing needs at a
local level to eradicate AIDs. This July, as part of
these efforts, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention awarded $109 million to 32 State and local
health departments to support core HIV diagnosis and
prevention activities. Additionally, the Ryan White
HIV/AIDS Program of the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) is continuing to provide those
diagnosed with access to high quality, comprehensive
primary care. Under HRSA's Bureau of Primary Health
Care health centers have implemented critical early
detection initiatives that have produced life-saving
diagnoses of Americans living with HIV, saving
countless American lives.

Across many fronts, our response has been
comprehensive--and it is working. Preventative measures
such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and syringe
service programs are reducing the number of new HIV
transmissions and, if one has already been exposed,
Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) is helping prevent
further spread of infection. In 2019 alone, federally
funded health centers provided more than 2.7 million
HIV tests to over 2.2 million patients. The Ryan White
HIV/AIDS Program has proven remarkably successful at
viral suppression, reducing viral loads in 87.1 percent
of its clients' cases in 2018. And the National
Institutes of Health continues its work to develop a
vaccine.

Outside of the United States, my Administration's
global response is being led by the world's most
advanced health experts and diplomats through the
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR),
the most successful

health initiative in American history. When first
launched in 2003, there were 26.6 million Africans
infected with AIDS and only 50,000 receiving lifesaving
antiretroviral treatment. Today, more than 15.7 million
men, women, and children in Africa are receiving these
vital treatments. PEPFAR has saved over 18 million
lives, prevented millions of HIV infections, and
accelerated progress toward controlling the HIV/AIDS
epidemic in more than 50 countries.

Through these and other initiatives we are bringing to
a close a painful chapter in human history. For the
past many decades, HIV and AIDS have inflicted untold
suffering on millions of people both here at home and
abroad. But by the end of this decade, we will have
eliminated this scourge from our country and released
much of the rest of the world from its deadly grip.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim December 1, 2020, as
World AIDS Day. I urge the Governors of the States and
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of the other
Territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United
States, and all Americans to join me in appropriate
activities to remember those who have lost their lives
to AIDS and to provide support and compassion to those
living with HIV/AIDS.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.