On December 1, CDC and its partners observe World AIDS Day to raise awareness of the global impact of HIV/AIDS. We recognize the success to date of global and domestic programs and commit to more lives saved.

Lives Saved Globally Equals Success

When the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was launched in 2003, fewer than 50,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving life-saving antiretroviral drugs. Six years later, thanks to the efforts of Ministries of Health; the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; PEPFAR; and public and private donors, approximately 5.2 million people in low- and middle-income countries are receiving these drugs.

CDC is proud to be a key implementing partner of PEPFAR, which supported treatment for nearly 2.5 million people, and care and support to nearly 11 million, including more than 3.6 million orphans and vulnerable children through September 2009. In FY 2009, PEPFAR directly supported prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs that allowed nearly 100,000 babies of HIV-positive mothers to be born HIV-free, adding to the nearly 240,000 babies born without HIV due to PEPFAR support during FYs 2004-2008. PEPFAR also provided HIV counseling and testing to nearly 29 million people, in FY 2009, providing a critical entry point to prevention, treatment, and care.

Despite this tremendous progress, 33.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide, and according to UNAIDS, approximately 2.7 million new infections occurred in 2008. CDC is committed to saving even more lives. Through our longstanding partnerships with Ministries of Health around the world, CDC will continue to:

  • Help host countries build their skills in gathering public health information, operating laboratories, and managing the public health and healthcare workforce;
  • Expand quality HIV/AIDS care and treatment service delivery and transition management of these services to host governments;
  • Implement effective and evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs; and
  • Evaluate programs to assess public health impact and help countries assess cost effectiveness of programs and policies to ensure every dollar saves as many lives as possible.

Building on Success Here at Home

HIV testing is critical to the fight against HIV. An estimated 1.1 million people are living with HIV in the United States. Of those, as many as 1 in 5 people are unaware of their HIV infection. HIV testing is important because finding new HIV infections means people can get lifesaving treatment early and can take steps to protect their loved ones from being infected.

HIV testing should be a routine part of healthcare.  CDC recommends:

  • Everyone ages 13-64 get tested at least once.
  • People at high risk for HIV get tested more often. Those at the highest risk (including Injection-Drug Users and their sex partners, persons who exchange sex for money or drugs, sex partners of HIV-infected persons and Men who have Sex with Men) get tested at least annually.
  • Women get tested during each pregnancy.

On World AIDS Day, we pay tribute to the millions of people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States and around the world, and the millions of people who have been tested for HIV. We recognize that HIV testing and linkage to care can save lives and are working to build on those successes to allow more people to live longer and healthier lives.