[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 84681-84682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26841]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 232 / Tuesday, December 5, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 84681]]


                Proclamation 10680 of November 30, 2023

                
World AIDS Day, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On World AIDS Day, my message is simple: Let us finish 
                the fight.

                Since recognizing the first World AIDS Day 35 years 
                ago, we have made enormous progress in preventing, 
                detecting, and treating HIV--greatly reducing annual 
                HIV diagnoses and transmission. But despite these 
                advancements, about 39 million people continue to live 
                with HIV, including more than one million people in the 
                United States. Far too often, people living with HIV 
                face discrimination that prevents them from accessing 
                the care they need. So, as we reflect on our progress 
                today, we must also come together to renew our promise 
                to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

                At home, my Administration has taken historic steps to 
                achieve this goal. During my first year in office, I 
                reestablished the White House Office of National AIDS 
                Policy and launched a new National HIV/AIDS Strategy--a 
                roadmap for using innovative community-driven solutions 
                to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States by 
                2030. This year, my Administration also ended the 
                disgraceful practice of banning gay and bisexual men 
                from donating blood. We continue to work with State and 
                community leaders to repeal or reform so-called HIV 
                criminalization laws, which wrongly punish people for 
                exposing others to HIV. I have asked the Congress for 
                $850 million for the Department of Health and Human 
                Services' Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative to 
                aggressively reduce new HIV cases, fight the stigma 
                that stops many people from getting care, and increase 
                access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)--a critical 
                drug that can help prevent the spread of HIV.

                We are also focused on ending HIV/AIDS as a public 
                health threat worldwide by 2030 under the bipartisan 
                President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). 
                PEPFAR has reduced transmissions, expanded testing, and 
                saved more than 25 million lives in over 50 partner 
                countries over the last two decades. Further, PEPFAR is 
                focusing on forging a future where every HIV infection 
                is prevented, every person has access to treatment, and 
                every generation can live free from the stigma that too 
                often surrounds HIV. My Administration is committed to 
                working with the Congress to pass a clean PEPFAR 
                reauthorization bill to extend this lifesaving 
                bipartisan program for 5 years and end HIV/AIDS by 
                2030.

                We are within striking distance of eliminating HIV-
                transmission. We have the science. We have the 
                treatments. Most of all, we have each other. On this 
                35th World AIDS Day--let us honor all the families who 
                have lost a loved one to this disease and all the 
                people currently living with HIV/AIDS. Let us remember 
                the activists, scientists, doctors, and caregivers who 
                have never given up in the fight against the HIV/AIDS 
                epidemic. Let us recommit to finishing this fight--
                together.

                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, 
                2023, 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

[[Page 84682]]

                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 
                thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                eighth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-26841
Filed 12-4-23; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P