From the White House comes this picture of the president's abode being adorned in the red AIDS ribbon for World AIDS Day.
President Obama released a statement about the annual event, saying, “Creating an AIDS-free generation is a shared responsibility… Working together, we can realize our historic opportunity to bring that fight to an end.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius‘ also struck an optimistic tone: “When the first World AIDS Day was observed in 1988, we could not
imagine the end of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For those diagnosed with HIV
infection, the future was bleak. This year, the picture is very
different.”
She went on: “This year, the picture is very different. Scientific advances in
understanding HIV, and an increasing number of treatment options, are
turning the tide for millions of people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
and around the world. We are greatly encouraged by evidence that new
HIV infections have declined by 50 percent or more in 25 low and middle
income countries.”