The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations welcomes President Trump’s commitment to ending HIV transmission in the United States by 2030. The President announced the initiative in his State of the Union address.

The President’s commitment is an important intervention and sets a benchmark for US efforts to drive progress against HIV.

Advances in HIV medicine and technology provide the tools for driving HIV transmission to very low levels and keeping people with HIV well.

High-income countries such as the United States and Australia have the opportunity to achieve ambitious HIV goals if their vision to do so is matched with political leadership and new investments to scale-up of community-led effort.

Australia also aspires to end HIV transmission, with the Commonwealth Government recently committing to a goal of ending HIV by 2022.

The President’s message also reinforces the global goal of ending AIDS by 2030, a goal that will only be met with clear leadership and commitment from the United States.

The President’s vision must therefore be matched with ongoing investment in institutions such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief.

HIV does not respect borders and any plan to end its transmission requires global reach and ambition to succeed.

The United States, Australia and other donor countries will be called upon to demonstrate their commitment on HIV at the 2019 Replenishment Conference for the Global Fund. AFAO is calling upon the Australian Government to provide a three-year investment of $300m for global action on HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

For media comment, please contact: Nick Lucchinelli 0422 229 032

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE PDF OF THIS MEDIA RELEASE HERE:  AFAO welcomes US commitment to ending HIV transmission by 2030