Statement on Trump Administration’s Silence on World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day exists for a reason. It is not only a day of remembrance, but also one of accountability. It is an annual reminder that progress is fragile and that silence has always been deadly in the fight against HIV.
The Trump Administration’s decision to forgo any recognition of World AIDS Day — just months after eliminating USAID and inflicting painful cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — is more than a bureaucratic choice. It is an erasure of four decades of bipartisan American leadership and astonishing, life-saving progress. It signals to the world that the United States is abandoning a commitment that saved millions of lives. And, it sends a chilling message that the ongoing crisis of HIV transmission no longer matters to our country.
The timing of this decision makes it more profound. We are closer than ever to ending the disease as a public health threat. Through highly effective medications, those who are HIV positive are able to live long lives. Innovative new therapies provide people with the option of a twice-annual shot for HIV prevention rather than daily oral medications. And significant strides are being made with respect to a vaccine. But progress is not guaranteed. Without the continued attention World AIDS Day is intended to raise, these efforts will stall.
For decades, Democrats and Republicans have stood together to confront HIV. That legacy should not be erased. Congress must reaffirm its commitment to commemorating World AIDS Day and to ensuring that the United States continues to lead the global fight against HIV and AIDS. Choosing silence sends the most dangerous message of all, that the lives lost, and the lives still at risk, no longer matter.