Ambassador’s Op-Ed on World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day 2011: Leading With Science, Uniting for Action in Vietnam

Every year on December 1, we commemorate World AIDS Day. It is a day to reflect on lives lost, and lives forever changed, as a result of AIDS. It is also an opportunity to pay tribute to more than 34 million people living with HIV worldwide. Today, we celebrate those lives saved and improved in Vietnam, and recommit to the fight against AIDS.

While remarkable progress has been made over the last three decades, we must continue to forge ahead. New scientific developments are rapidly changing expectations for the future. Science has given us the tools we need to navigate our efforts in the direction of an AIDS-free generation. Working collectively, we can turn the tide of HIV.

Science is the way forward. Recent scientific breakthroughs have altered our outlook on the future of AIDS. Of particular importance was a recent study showing that antiretroviral treatment reduces the likelihood of transmission of HIV to an uninfected partner by a remarkable 96%. For the first time, with this and other tools, we have a potential path to eliminate this disease from the global landscape. By using our new knowledge, we can implement more effective programs to provide HIV prevention, treatment, and care to millions of people worldwide, and to thousands of people in communities throughout Vietnam.

Significant strides have been made across Vietnam and throughout the world. In Vietnam, the United States through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) directly supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for nearly 40,000 men, women and children as of September 2011. PEPFAR has also directly supported 113,000 people most at-risk for HIV in Vietnam with care and support. In Vietnam, HIV/AIDS affects everyone, but those most at-risk for HIV are often stigmatized because of whom they choose to love, their line of work, or their behaviors. Together we can stop the stigma and discrimination, and support our friends, family members and colleagues living with HIV.

Working with Vietnam, we are embracing smart investments to save more lives. Treatment – both to save the lives of those infected, and to prevent infection of others – is a key evidence-based intervention, along with prevention of mother-to-child transmission, HIV testing and others. In all we do, we are focusing on using our resources as effectively and efficiently as possible to maximize the human impact of our investments and save more lives. President Barack Obama’s Global Health Initiative is using health systems built through PEPFAR to address public health challenges in a more integrated and comprehensive way.

The United States remains committed to a leadership role in the global AIDS response. Today, we recognize how far we have come in turning the tide against HIV, while acknowledging the lengths we still must travel. On this World AIDS Day, we stand together with Vietnam. With science as the roadmap and in a spirit of shared responsibility through expanded and creative partnerships across Vietnam, let us renew our efforts to reach the goal of an AIDS-free generation.