World AIDS Day: Obama pledges $50 million towards domestic treatment and clinics
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 01: U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks during a World AIDS Day event at the Jack Morton Auditorium on the campus of George Washington University December 1, 2011 in Washington, DC. Focusing on “the beginning of the end of AIDS,” the event was sponsored by HIV/AIDS awareness organizations The ONE Campaign and (RED). Speakers also included former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton (via satellite link), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rep. Barbara Lee (R-CA), Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (via satellite from Tanzania), and music artists Bono and Alicia Keys. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama announced on World AIDS Day that the United States would give an additional $50 million towards AIDS treatment and facilities, CNN reported.
On the 23rd anniversary of World AIDS Day, the president also set a new goal to help six million people receive treatment by the end of 2013, increasing the original target by two million, ABC News reported.
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"We are going to win this fight," Obama said, CNN reported. "But the fight's not over, not by a long shot."
During an event marking the day in Washington, D.C., the president that the US plans to host the World AIDS conference next year, since removing a ban that prohibited people with HIV from entering the country, CNN reported. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were also present at the event. It has been 30 years since the virus has been discovered, ABC News reported.
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"The rate of new infections may be going down elsewhere, but it's not going down here in America," Obama said, the BBC reported. "When new infections among young, black, gay men increase by nearly 50 percent in three years, we need to do more to show them that their lives matter."
There are currently 1.2 million people in the US that are HIV-positive. As a part of the $50 million pledged to domestic treatment plans, $15 million will go towards the Ryan White Program, which funds clinics, and $35 million for state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, Politico reported. Obama also noted that it is important for the US to continue to lead funding of global health programs.
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