[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 126, 112th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 8909--NOV. 29, 2012

Proclamation 8909 of November 29, 2012

World AIDS Day, 2012

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On World AIDS Day, more than 30 years after the first cases of this
tragic illness were reported, we join the global community once more in
standing with the millions of people who live with HIV/AIDS worldwide.
We also recommit to preventing the spread of this disease, fighting the
stigma associated with infection, and ending this pandemic once and for
all.


[[Page 2703]]


In 2010, my Administration released the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, our
Nation's first comprehensive plan to fight the domestic epidemic. The
Strategy aims to reduce new infections, increase access to care, reduce
health disparities, and achieve a more coordinated national response to
HIV/AIDS here in the United States. To meet these goals, we are
advancing HIV/AIDS education; connecting stakeholders throughout the
public, private, and non-profit sectors; and investing in promising
research that can improve clinical outcomes and reduce the risk of
transmission. Moving forward, we must continue to focus on populations
with the highest HIV disparities--including gay men, and African
American and Latino communities--and scale up effective, evidence-based
interventions to prevent and treat HIV. We are also implementing the
Affordable Care Act, which has expanded access to HIV testing and will
ensure that all Americans, including those living with HIV/AIDS, have
access to health insurance beginning in 2014.
These actions are bringing us closer to an AIDS-free generation at home
and abroad--a goal that, while ambitious, is within sight. Through the
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), we are on track to
meet the HIV prevention and treatment targets I set last year. We are
working with partners at home and abroad to reduce new infections in
adults, help people with HIV/AIDS live longer, prevent mother-to-child
transmission, and support the global effort to eliminate new infections
in children by 2015. And thanks to bipartisan action to lift the entry
ban on persons living with HIV, we were proud to welcome leaders from
around the world to the 19th International AIDS Conference in
Washington, D.C.
Creating an AIDS-free generation is a shared responsibility. It requires
commitment from partner countries, coupled with support from donors,
civil society, people living with HIV, faith-based organizations, the
private sector, foundations, and multilateral institutions. We stand at
a tipping point in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and working together, we
can realize our historic opportunity to bring that fight to an end.
Today, we reflect on the strides we have taken toward overcoming HIV/
AIDS, honor those who have made our progress possible, and keep in our
thoughts all those who have known the devastating consequences of this
illness. The road toward an AIDS-free generation is long--but as we mark
this important observance, let us also remember that if we move forward
every day with the same passion, persistence, and drive that has brought
us this far, we can reach our goal. We can beat this disease. On World
AIDS Day, in memory of those no longer with us and in solidarity with
all who carry on the fight, let us pledge to make that vision a reality.
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, 2012, 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 comfort to those living with this
disease.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of
November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve,


[[Page 2704]]

and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
seventh.
BARACK OBAMA