[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 131, 115th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
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-

[[Page 2557]]

sector companies, philanthropic organizations, multilateral
institutions, civil society and faith-based organizations, people living
with HIV, and many others.
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.
DONALD J. TRUMP