Dear President Obama:
Thank you for committing the United States to increased HIV treatment access at home and abroad as part of your stirring World AIDS Day address at George Washington University this past December.
With the power of the bully pulpit, you underscored the leadership role the United States has played in the 30-year fight against AIDS. As you noted, through bipartisan support, this nation has done more than any other to develop and deploy effective strategies to stop this global health threat.
Your 2011 World AIDS Day address marked an historic presidential commitment to usher the “Beginning of the End” of this pandemic. As you keenly observed, tremendous HIV-related scientific advances – largely a credit to American investment and ingenuity – have been nothing short of amazing. While scientists continue efforts to develop an effective vaccine and cure, many other tools already exist to save lives and dramatically curb new HIV infections. The challenge before us is to ensure that these tools are made available and accessible to all people everywhere who need them