Statements

I would like to take this moment on World AIDS Day to honor my father, who died of AIDS in 1991. He was so smart and charismatic, and was an avid cook, gardener, tailor (he made me a skirt out of a pair of jeans once!) and actor (he did a mean John Wayne and Muhammed Ali impression!). His passing left me an orphan. He wasn't able to see me get accepted to medical school or to become a physician, and he was my biggest cheerleader in pursuing that dream. He wasn't able to meet or know my children. They missed out on a great relationship with their grandfather. He's greatly missed, and I take my place among many others in the fight against AIDS in his memory.

World AIDS Day has been observed on December 1st of every year since 1988—for the past 32 years. Most importantly, it’s a remembrance of the over 32 million people we’ve lost to AIDS worldwide, and an acknowledgment of the enormity of the pandemic. World AIDS Day is also an appreciation of how far we’ve come in treating HIV, and the contributions of countless others—researchers, health care workers, patients, activists—all the heroes whose efforts carried us to where we are now.

Today, we remember the desperation of the early days of AIDS when gay men in San Francisco and New York and LA were dying every day from horrific illnesses caused by an absolutely unknown pathogen. We remember the cries of activists demanding action from an indifferent government: Ignorance equals fear. Silence equals death. Fight AIDS. Act up. We remember the people who shared their stories, even as they buried their dead.

This year, we see history repeating itself in the Covid-19 pandemic, and remember how denial and inaction leads to disease and death in our communities.

Today, 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV. Of those, 168,000 are unaware of their of their HIV positive status. 40% of new transmissions are caused by this group of people, and the typical American is infected for 3 years before realizing it. This median length of time to diagnosis is much longer for non-whites than whites, and much longer for people over 40 years old. Also, fully half of people with undiagnosed HIV are living in the South.

Right now, we’re at a critical juncture in the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We’re fortunate to have treatment that enables most people living with HIV to live long and healthy lives. But if we’re going to end HIV, we have to continue to work together as a community—now more than ever—to make sure that every person living with HIV is aware of their diagnosis, gets started on treatment rapidly, and stays on treatment. Also, that everyone who is sexually active gets routinely tested for HIV and STDs, and that all in our community have access to highly effective prevention tools like PrEP to help them stay HIV negative.

Ending this pandemic is an immense challenge, but today we have everything we need to accomplish it. None of us can do all of it, but all of us can do part of it. And if we do it together, then person by person, community by community, we’ll get to the end of AIDS.