World Aids Day (December 2011)

When World AIDS Day was first observed in 1988, there was no truly effective treatment for what was almost always a deadly disease. Today the biggest problem in caring for those with AIDS is no longer mainly a medical or scientific problem — the crisis is access to affordable drugs. 

World AIDS Day 2011 marks tremendous progress in the global response since the first discovery of AIDS cases 30 years ago. The good news is that new HIV infections worldwide are at their lowest levels since 1997. Promising research shows that eliminating new HIV infections in children is possible — and our goal of doing so by 2015 is within reach. AIDS-related deaths are at their lowest level since the 2005 peak. We know that U.S.-funded research yields revolutionary breakthroughs in the global and domestic AIDS response. 

One of the great shames in the battle against HIV/AIDS is the fact that the same conservatives who, statistically, give significantly more to charity than their liberal counterparts, with some notable exceptions, have been largely content to allow one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the world to be hijacked as an exclusively “liberal issue.”

Last month at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced an ambitious new goal of achieving an AIDS-free generation. Just a few years ago, this would have seemed unattainable. But today, thanks to advances in HIV prevention and treatment research, we have an unprecedented opportunity to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS across the globe and here in the U.S., where 1.1 million people are living with HIV. As we mark World AIDS Day, reaching this incredible goal is now possible, but only if we follow the scientific evidence and commit the necessary resources.