“Today I join individuals and organizations from around the world in recognizing the continued scourge of HIV/AIDS and committing to keep working for its eradication. I have seen firsthand in my travels across Africa the devastating effect that HIV/AIDS has on entire communities and people of all ages. Since the first World AIDS Day twenty years ago, we have come a long way in bringing high-level attention to this pandemic, developing effective prevention and treatment strategies, and providing abundant resources to combat it. Thanks to increasingly effective, available and affordable anti-retroviral medications, HIV is no longer a death sentence. I applaud the Bush Administration’s leadership on this issue and I am pleased that we were able to work together this year to pass bipartisan legislation authorizing $48 billion for ongoing U.S. efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

“But despite this progress, HIV/AIDS remains one of the world’s worst public health crises and the number of infections continues to rise in some countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Even across the United States, HIV appears to be on the rise in many cities. We must intensify our efforts both at home and abroad to reduce the number of infections. Since we cannot treat our way out of this pandemic, we need to be exploring and investing in new prevention techniques to stem the spread of HIV. World leaders and the global health community must focus more on strengthening local health systems. Until developing countries as well as our own cities have the health care professionals and the infrastructure they need, we will continue to fight an uphill battle against HIV/AIDS and other global health challenges. On this World AIDS Day, we must commit to building on efforts already underway to ensure that those in need have access to treatment, and strengthening prevention efforts both at home and around the world.”

December 1st, 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Senator Feingold (D-WI) is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.