President Barack Obama on Wednesday
issued his annual World AIDS Day proclamation.
December 1 has been designated as World
AIDS Day every year since 1988. World AIDS Day is dedicated to
raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic and mourning those lost to the
disease.
In his proclamation, Obama called for a
renewed dedication “to ending this epidemic once and for all.”
“On World AIDS Day, we join with the
international community to remember those we have lost too soon,
reflect on the tremendous progress we have made in battling this
disease, and carry forward our fight against HIV/AIDS,” Obama
wrote.
Obama noted that “gay and bisexual
men, transgender people, youth, black and Latino Americans, people
living in the Southern United States and people who inject drugs are
at a disproportionate risk” of acquiring the disease.
The president lauded the Affordable
Care Act (ACA), widely known as Obamacare, for blocking insurance
companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions such as
HIV and for covering “important services like HIV and screening.”
In his final World AIDS Day
proclamation, Obama pledged more than $4 billion through 2019 to
fight AIDS globally.
“Currently, more than 36 million
people, including 1.8 million children, are living with HIV/AIDS
across the globe, and the majority of people living with HIV reside
in low-to middle-income countries,” Obama said. “We need to do
more to reach those who are at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS, and the
United States is helping shape the world’s response to this crisis
and working alongside the international community to end this
epidemic by 2030.”