ONE and (RED) Call on President Obama to be Bold in the Race to Defeat AIDS

“Thirty years ago a discovery was made that changed the world – and not for the better.  HIV/AIDS currently infects 34 million men, women, and children, and more than 29 million have died.  Infection rates have been especially high on the continent of Africa.

“Next July, the United States will host more than 20,000 AIDS scientists and advocates at the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. – the first time the event has been on these shores since 1990.   Now is the perfect time for the United States to once again play a leadership role in ending the AIDS crisis.

“Where once a positive diagnosis meant almost certain suffering and death, that is no longer the case.  There are now 6.6 million people receiving treatment for HIV, compared to just 100,000 in 2002.  They are the living proof that U.S. programs like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and our contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria have been real game-changers in the race to defeat this disease.  Our national commitment has been shared by both Republicans and Democrats.  President Clinton scaled up our domestic response in the early 1990s. President Bush led an historic commitment to tackle the disease globally. President Obama has continued this policy and expanded U.S. commitment to the Global Fund and better integrated other health needs.

“But despite great progress, for every person who goes on treatment, nearly two more are infected. There are an estimated nine million people still in need of treatment.  More than 370,000 children are infected with HIV each year.  If we are to defeat the disease that has caused such enormous human suffering we must commit to forge ahead, to be bold and ambitious, without reservation.  We must not waver nor slow down – to do so will allow the blight of AIDS to accelerate again, killing millions more, creating millions more orphans, and starving developing nations of the brainpower needed to work their way out of extreme poverty and weak economies.

“There is no need for that to happen.  New ground-breaking science has led to progress on the development of an AIDS vaccine and a microbicide gel to protect women, as well as new evidence that shows an HIV-positive individual on antiretroviral treatment is up to 96% less likely to transmit the virus to others.  Such momentum shows that we can turn this tragedy around.  We might actually see the beginning of the end of AIDS – if we have the political will.

“ONE and (RED) are calling on President Obama to focus his Administration on defeating HIV and stepping up U.S. global leadership in this arena.    We ask that the President set specific and measurable goals with deadlines.  Those goals should include the following:

• An AIDS Free Generation by 2015: no child should be born with HIV by 2015
• 15 x 15: ensure 15 million HIV-positive people are on treatment by 2015
• A drastic reduction in the rate of new HIV infections by 2015.

“If the President commits us all to these bold and world-changing goals he will have helped pave the way to the beginning of the end of AIDS.”