[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 232 (Friday, December 3, 2010)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 75617-75618]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-30585]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 232 / Friday, December 3, 2010 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 75617]]
Proclamation 8609 of November 30, 2010
World AIDS Day, 2010
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
On this World AIDS Day, as we approach the thirtieth
year of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we reflect on the many
Americans and others around the globe lost to this
devastating disease, and pledge our support to the 33
million people worldwide who live with HIV/AIDS. We
also recommit to building on the great strides made in
fighting HIV, to preventing the spread of the disease,
to continuing our efforts to combat stigma and
discrimination, and to finding a cure.
Today, we are experiencing a domestic HIV epidemic that
demands our attention and leadership. My Administration
has invigorated our response to HIV by releasing the
first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the
United States. Its vision is an America in which new
HIV infections are rare, and when they do occur, all
persons--regardless of age, gender, race or ethnicity,
sexual orientation, gender identity, or socio-economic
circumstance--will have unfettered access to high-
quality, life-extending care.
Signifying a renewed level of commitment and urgency,
the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States
focuses on comprehensive, evidence-based approaches to
preventing HIV in high-risk communities. It strengthens
efforts to link and retain people living with HIV into
care, and lays out new steps to ensure that the United
States has the workforce necessary to serve Americans
living with HIV. The Strategy also provides a path for
reducing HIV-related health disparities by adopting
community-level approaches to preventing and treating
this disease, including addressing HIV-related
discrimination.
Along with this landmark Strategy, we have also made
significant progress with the health reform law I
signed this year, the Affordable Care Act. For far too
long, Americans living with HIV and AIDS have endured
great difficulties in obtaining adequate health
insurance coverage and quality care. The Affordable
Care Act prohibits insurance companies from using HIV
status and other pre-existing conditions as a reason to
deny health care coverage to children as of this year,
and to all Americans beginning in 2014. To ensure that
individuals living with HIV/AIDS can access the care
they need, the Affordable Care Act ends lifetime limits
and phases out annual limits on coverage. Starting in
2014, it forbids insurance companies from charging
higher premiums because of HIV status, and introduces
tax credits that will make coverage more affordable for
all Americans. This landmark law also provides access
to insurance coverage through the Pre-Existing
Condition Insurance Plan for the uninsured with chronic
conditions.
Our Government has a role to play in reducing stigma,
which is why my Administration eliminated the entry ban
that previously barred individuals living with HIV/AIDS
from entering the United States. As a result, the 2012
International AIDS Conference will be held in
Washington, D.C., the first time this important meeting
will be hosted by the United States in over two
decades. For more information about our commitment to
fighting this epidemic and the stigma surrounding it, I
encourage all Americans to visit: www.AIDS.gov.
[[Page 75618]]
Tackling this disease requires a shared response that
builds on the successes achieved to date. Globally,
tens of millions of people have benefited from HIV
prevention, treatment, and care programs supported by
the American people. The President's Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria support anti-retroviral
treatments for millions around the world. My
Administration has also made significant investments
and increases in our efforts to fight the spread of
HIV/AIDS at home and abroad by implementing a
comprehensive package of proven prevention programs and
improving the health of those in developing countries.
Additionally, the Global Health Initiative integrates
treatment and care with other interventions to provide
a holistic approach to improving the health of people
living with HIV/AIDS. Along with our global partners,
we will continue to focus on saving lives through
effective prevention activities, as well as other smart
investments to maximize the impact of each dollar
spent.
World AIDS Day serves as an important reminder that
HIV/AIDS has not gone away. More than one million
Americans currently live with HIV/AIDS in the United
States, and more than 56,000 become infected each year.
For too long, this epidemic has loomed over our Nation
and our world, taking a devastating toll on some of the
most vulnerable among us. On World AIDS Day, we mourn
those we have lost and look to the promise of a
brighter future and a world without HIV/AIDS.
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, 2010, 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 the American people to join in appropriate
activities to remember the men, women, and children 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
thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2010-30585
Filed 12-2-10; 11:15 am]
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