Pelosi Statement on World AIDS Day

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement to mark World AIDS Day:

"Every December 1st, the world comes together to remember the unimaginable toll that AIDS has taken: stealing millions of beautiful souls and leaving behind countless communities in anguish. We also honor the unimaginable courage and resilience of all those living with HIV or AIDS, who are fighting stigma and discrimination while raising their voices and inspiring our work to achieve an AIDS-free generation.

"This year, our nation marked a solemn milestone: forty years of HIV/AIDS, which has inflicted nearly unparalleled pain and devastation on our world. Yet, out of this darkness and despair, and moved by the powerful voices of advocates and survivors, we have forged healing and hope. We established PEPFAR and the Global Fund to support scientific research for vaccine, treatment and cure around the world, and American will continue its bold leadership when we host the Global Fund Replenishment Conference next year. With the HOPWA initiative, we ensured low-income survivors can afford safe, quality housing. By creating the Ryan White CARE initiative, we secured access to community-based care for those living with HIV. In our historic Affordable Care Act, we ended discrimination against pre-existing conditions like HIV/AIDS and widened access to care through Medicaid expansion – progress that Democrats are building upon in our Build Back Better Act. And this powerful global response has helped inform and guide our ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Despite our extraordinary progress, last year AIDS-related illnesses claimed the lives of nearly 700,000 innocent people worldwide. Especially and disproportionately at risk here at home and abroad are underserved communities, communities of color, gay and bisexual men and transgender women of color. On World AIDS Day, and every day, let us summon the spirit of courage, ingenuity and cooperation necessary to end the stigma, advance health equity and finally banish HIV/AIDS to the dustbin of history."