On December 1st is the 33rd World AIDS Day, worldwide and let’s celebrate the progress made in the fight to end AIDS. The United States has played a transformational leadership role in funding and driving a global effort to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. Despite the significant progress, nearly 500 children are still infected with the virus every day, primarily via mother-to-child transmission, and only 53 percent have access to the medications they need to stay healthy. Without treatment, half of HIV-infected infants will die before their second birthday. Just as troubling, deaths among adolescents living with HIV have doubled since 2000, despite a decade-long decline in AIDS-related deaths.
This year, World AIDS Day, EGPAF is calling on U.S. leaders and politicians to work together with a global, national, and local leaders to address the challenges caused by dual pandemics: COVID-19 and HIV. Since there are shortcomings in addressing children and adolescents in the HIV response existed even before COVID-19 related health service interruptions began.