World AIDS Day, 2009

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part IV

The President

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Proclamation 8459--World AIDS Day, 2009

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 8459 of November 25, 2009

World AIDS Day, 2009

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Our Nation joins the world in celebrating the
extraordinary advancements we have made in the battle
against HIV and AIDS, and remembering those we have
lost. Over the past three decades, brave men and women
have fought devastating discrimination, stigma, doubt,
and violence as they stood in the face of this deadly
disease. Many of them would not be here today, but for
the dedication of other persons living with HIV, their
loved ones and families, community advocates, and
members of the medical profession. On World AIDS Day,
we rededicate ourselves to developing a national AIDS
strategy that will establish the priorities necessary
to combat this devastating epidemic at home, and to
renewing our leadership role and commitments abroad.

Though we have been witness to incredible progress, our
struggle against HIV/AIDS is far from over. With an
infection occurring every nine-and-a-half minutes in
America, there are more than one million individuals
estimated to be living with the disease in our country.
Of those currently infected, one in five does not know
they have the condition, and the majority of new
infections are spread by people who are unaware of
their own status. HIV/AIDS does not discriminate as it
infiltrates neighborhoods and communities. Americans of
any gender, age, ethnicity, income, or sexual
orientation can and are contracting the disease.

Globally, there are over 33 million people living with
HIV. While millions have died from this disease, the
death rate is slowly declining due, in part, to our
Nation's global effort through the President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program.
However, HIV remains a leading cause of death
worldwide. Women and children around the world are
particularly vulnerable due to gender inequalities,
gaps in access to services, and increases in sexual
violence. While the statistics are distressing, new
medications and scientific advancements give us reason
for hope.

Tackling this disease will take an aggressive,
steadfast approach. My Administration is developing a
national HIV/AIDS strategy to bolster our response to
the domestic epidemic, and a global health initiative
that will build on PEPFAR's success. We will develop a
strategy to reduce HIV incidence, improve access to
care, and help eliminate HIV-related health
disparities. We have already ensured that visitors to
our shores living with HIV are not marginalized and
discriminated against because of their HIV status. We
have also secured the continuation of critical HIV/AIDS
care and treatment services. Today, we recommit
ourselves to building on the accomplishments of the
past decades that have dramatically changed the
domestic and global HIV/AIDS landscape.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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, 2009, as
World AIDS Day. I urge the Governors of the States and
the territories subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States, and the American people to join in
appropriate activities to remember those who have lost
their

lives to AIDS, and to provide support and comfort to
those living with this disease.

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