AS DELIVERED
Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the United States commends UNAIDS, the Global Fund, partner governments, and civil society on the tremendous progress outlined in the report to the Secretary General on the Implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the Political Declarations on HIV and AIDS. To end the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it is critical for all partners to continue to “fast track” their efforts. We must focus on delivering effective interventions to the populations and locations with the highest HIV/AIDS burden.
The United States strongly supports the leadership of UNAIDS in the global HIV/AIDS response. We applaud UNAIDS for its data-driven efforts that have encouraged us all to focus on ensuring that the right HIV services are available in the right places, at the right time, and in the right way, so we can have the greatest possible impact with our investments. We also would like to commend UNAIDS on producing the world’s most extensive epidemiological data on the AIDS pandemic. Having the right data is vital to tracking progress toward meeting the commitments made in the 2016 United National Political Declaration on Ending AIDS.
The United States, through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, is committed to partnering with countries to control the epidemic by focusing on data, mutual accountability, and transparency to implement evidence-based HIV prevention, treatment, and care interventions that accelerate progress toward this goal.
Through PEPFAR, we have helped save and improve the lives of millions of men, women, and children around the world. But our work is far from done. The United States is particularly focused on the need to prevent new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women, 390,000 of whom were newly infected last year alone. We have responded with programs like the PEPFAR-led DREAMS public-private partnership, which has reached over 1 million adolescent girls and young women. We are also committed to expanding access to HIV treatment for children. PEPFAR now supports nearly 1.1 million children living with HIV to receive life-saving antiretroviral treatment.
Continued global solidarity, coupled with an increasing shared responsibility and strategic investment as defined by the 90-90-90 global targets, puts us on a trajectory to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The United States encourages all governments to redouble their efforts toward controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic as they implement against the SDGs.
As a global community, we have made tremendous progress, but this is no time to slow down or rest on our laurels. Together, we have the extraordinary opportunity to control and ultimately end the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a public health threat – creating a world that is healthier, stronger, and safer for all of us. But it will take all partners, working with commitment, focus, and accountability to reach the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS targets. The United States’ commitment to helping control and ultimately end the HIV/AIDS epidemic is unwavering.
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