[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2017)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 57535-57536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26358]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 82 , No. 232 / Tuesday, December 5, 2017 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 57535]]


                Proclamation 9680 of November 30, 2017

                
World AIDS Day, 2017

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The first documented cases of the human 
                immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) and acquired 
                immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) 36 years ago became 
                the leading edge of an epidemic that swept across the 
                United States and around the globe, devastating 
                millions of individuals, families, and communities. As 
                a Nation, we felt fear and uncertainty as we struggled 
                to understand this new disease. In the decades since--
                through public and private American leadership, 
                innovation, investment, and compassion--we have ushered 
                in a new, hopeful era of prevention and treatment. 
                Today, on World AIDS Day, we honor those who have lost 
                their lives to AIDS, we celebrate the remarkable 
                progress we have made in combatting this disease, and 
                we reaffirm our ongoing commitment to end AIDS as a 
                public health threat.

                Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, more than 
                76 million people around the world have become infected 
                with HIV and 35 million have died from AIDS. As of 
                2014, 1.1 million people in the United States are 
                living with HIV. On this day, we pray for all those 
                living with HIV, and those who have lost loved ones to 
                AIDS.

                As we remember those who have died and those who are 
                suffering, we commend the immense effort people have 
                made to control and end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In the 
                United States, sustained public and private investments 
                in HIV prevention and treatment have yielded major 
                successes. The number of annual HIV infections fell 18 
                percent between 2008 and 2014, saving an estimated 
                $14.9 billion in lifetime medical costs. We have also 
                experienced successes around the globe. Through the 
                President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and 
                its data-driven investments in partnership with more 
                than 50 countries, we are supporting more than 13.3 
                million people with lifesaving antiretroviral 
                treatment. We remain deeply committed to supporting 
                adolescent girls and young women through this program, 
                who are up to 14 times more likely to contract HIV than 
                young men in some sub-Saharan African countries. Our 
                efforts also include the DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, 
                Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) public-
                private partnership, which has resulted in a 25-40 
                percent decline in new HIV infections among young women 
                in districts in 10 highly affected African countries 
                during the last 2 years.

                While we have made considerable progress in recent 
                decades, tens of thousands of Americans are infected 
                with HIV every year. My Administration will continue to 
                invest in testing initiatives to help people who are 
                unaware they are living with HIV learn their status. 
                Internationally, we will rapidly implement the recent 
                PEPFAR Strategy for Accelerating HIV/AIDS Epidemic 
                Control (2017-2020), which uses data to guide 
                investments and efforts in more than 50 countries to 
                reach epidemic control.

                Due to America's leadership and private sector 
                philanthropy and innovation, we have saved and improved 
                millions of lives and shifted the HIV/AIDS epidemic 
                from crisis toward control. We are proud to continue 
                our work with many partners, including governments, 
                private-sector companies, philanthropic organizations, 
                multilateral institutions, civil society and faith-
                based organizations, people living with HIV, and many 
                others.

[[Page 57536]]

                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 laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim December 1, 2017, 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 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.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                second.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2017-26358
 Filed 12-4-17; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F8-P