World AIDS Day, 2024

Proclamation 10867 of November 29, 2024

World AIDS Day, 2024

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Our Nation has made enormous strides toward preventing,
diagnosing, and treating HIV--a terrible disease that
has stolen the precious lives of over 40 million people
since the epidemic began in 1981. Despite our progress,
over 39 million people worldwide continue to live with
it, including over 1 million people in the United
States. On World AIDS Day, we honor the memory of all
those we tragically lost to HIV around the world. We
stand in solidarity with all those who are courageously
facing the disease today. And we renew our commitment
to accelerating efforts to finally end the HIV/AIDS
epidemic.

My Administration has made historic progress toward
addressing this fight. In my first year in office, I
reestablished the White House Office of National AIDS
Policy and launched a new National HIV/AIDS Strategy,
to put us on the path to end this epidemic by 2030. To
that end, the Health Resources and Services
Administration committed nearly $10 billion in funding
through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program to ensure that
low-income individuals in America with HIV can receive
the medication and quality care they need. The
Department of Health and Human Services is also working
to guarantee that Americans have access to HIV
interventions like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and
self-tests to prevent HIV. And the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services has ensured that PrEP
medications--including long-term injectable options--
and critical support services like counseling and
screenings for HIV and hepatitis B are free for people
with Medicare. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention invested $10 million in a pilot
program that covers the cost of PrEP to five health
departments across the Nation--an important step toward
ensuring everyone has access to this vital medication.
Additionally, my Administration's investments in the
Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States
initiative, which reaches over 50 jurisdictions, has
helped decrease HIV incidence by 21 percent in the past
year in those areas.

At the same time, my Administration is working to fight
the stigma surrounding HIV and to ensure that people
with HIV do not face bias or discrimination--which too
often stops people from getting life-saving care. I am
proud that last year my Administration ended the
shameful practice of banning gay and bisexual men from
donating blood. We also released updates to the
Rehabilitation Act that strengthen civil rights
protections in medical settings for people with HIV.
And I join advocates around the country in sharing the
message of U=U, which stands for undetectable equals
untransmittable, and makes clear that a person living
with HIV who is on treatment and maintains an
undetectable viral load has zero risk of transmitting
HIV. We are committed to ensuring people understand the
latest science about HIV transmission, testing,
prevention, and care. And we are calling on States and
community leaders to repeal or reform outdated HIV
criminalization laws, so people are not wrongfully
punished for exposing others to HIV without the intent
to cause harm.

Globally, my Administration is working with
international partners to lead the global fight to end
HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, including

through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR) and our investments in the Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. PEPFAR has saved
more than 25 million lives in 55 countries by working
to prevent HIV infections and expand access to HIV
treatment and care services. In 2023, my Administration
worked with the Congress to reauthorize PEPFAR for the
fourth time ensuring that America continues to help
build a future where HIV infections are prevented and
every person has access to the treatment they need.
This year, we also celebrate the 10th anniversary of
the DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-
Free, Mentored, and Safe) partnership, which has worked
to lower HIV infections in adolescent girls and young
women around the world.

This year, on World AIDS Day, the AIDS Quilt which was
first displayed on the National Mall in 1987, will be
publicly displayed at the White House for the first
time in our Nation's history. The Quilt is a memorial
for all those we have lost to AIDS and AIDS-related
illnesses.

We also express our gratitude to the activists,
scientists, doctors, and caregivers who have worked
tirelessly to advance our Nation's progress in the
fight against this epidemic. And we recommit as a
Nation to shining a light on the struggle, strength,
and resilience of people affected by HIV. Together, let
this World AIDS Day be a moment of unity that rallies
the country to give all those affected the care, hope,
and support they deserve.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., 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,
2024, as World AIDS Day. I urge the Governors of the
United States and its Commonwealths and Territories,
the appropriate officials of all units of government,
and the American people to join the HIV community in
activities to remember those who have lost their lives
to AIDS and to provide support, dignity, and compassion
to people with HIV.

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