Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 234 / Thursday, December 5, 2024 / Presidential Documents 96515 

Proclamation 10867 of November 29, 2024 

World AIDS Day, 2024 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

Our Nation has made enormous strides toward preventing, diagnosing, and 

treating HIV—a terrible disease that has stolen the precious lives of over 

40 million people since the epidemic began in 1981. Despite our progress, 

over 39 million people worldwide continue to live with it, including over 

1 million people in the United States. On World AIDS Day, we honor 

the memory of all those we tragically lost to HIV around the world. We 

stand in solidarity with all those who are courageously facing the disease 

today. And we renew our commitment to accelerating efforts to finally 

end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 

My Administration has made historic progress toward addressing this fight. 

In my first year in office, I reestablished the White House Office of National 

AIDS Policy and launched a new National HIV/AIDS Strategy, to put us 

on the path to end this epidemic by 2030. To that end, the Health Resources 

and Services Administration committed nearly $10 billion in funding through 

the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program to ensure that low-income individuals 

in America with HIV can receive the medication and quality care they 

need. The Department of Health and Human Services is also working to 

guarantee that Americans have access to HIV interventions like pre-exposure 

prophylaxis (PrEP) and self-tests to prevent HIV. And the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has ensured that PrEP medications—including 

long-term injectable options—and critical support services like counseling 

and screenings for HIV and hepatitis B are free for people with Medicare. 

Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invested $10 

million in a pilot program that covers the cost of PrEP to five health 

departments across the Nation—an important step toward ensuring everyone 

has access to this vital medication. Additionally, my Administration’s investments in the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States initiative, 

which reaches over 50 jurisdictions, has helped decrease HIV incidence 

by 21 percent in the past year in those areas. 

At the same time, my Administration is working to fight the stigma surrounding HIV and to ensure that people with HIV do not face bias or 

discrimination—which too often stops people from getting life-saving care. 

I am proud that last year my Administration ended the shameful practice 

of banning gay and bisexual men from donating blood. We also released 

updates to the Rehabilitation Act that strengthen civil rights protections 

in medical settings for people with HIV. And I join advocates around the 

country in sharing the message of U=U, which stands for undetectable 

equals untransmittable, and makes clear that a person living with HIV who 

is on treatment and maintains an undetectable viral load has zero risk 

of transmitting HIV. We are committed to ensuring people understand the 

latest science about HIV transmission, testing, prevention, and care. And 

we are calling on States and community leaders to repeal or reform outdated 

HIV criminalization laws, so people are not wrongfully punished for exposing 

others to HIV without the intent to cause harm. 

Globally, my Administration is working with international partners to lead 

the global fight to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, including 


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96516 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 234 / Thursday, December 5, 2024 / Presidential Documents 

through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and our 

investments in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. 

PEPFAR has saved more than 25 million lives in 55 countries by working 

to prevent HIV infections and expand access to HIV treatment and care 

services. In 2023, my Administration worked with the Congress to reauthorize 

PEPFAR for the fourth time ensuring that America continues to help build 

a future where HIV infections are prevented and every person has access 

to the treatment they need. This year, we also celebrate the 10th anniversary 

of the DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored, 

and Safe) partnership, which has worked to lower HIV infections in adolescent girls and young women around the world. 

This year, on World AIDS Day, the AIDS Quilt which was first displayed 

on the National Mall in 1987, will be publicly displayed at the White 

House for the first time in our Nation’s history. The Quilt is a memorial 

for all those we have lost to AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses. 

We also express our gratitude to the activists, scientists, doctors, and caregivers who have worked tirelessly to advance our Nation’s progress in the 

fight against this epidemic. And we recommit as a Nation to shining a 

light on the struggle, strength, and resilience of people affected by HIV. 

Together, let this World AIDS Day be a moment of unity that rallies the 

country to give all those affected the care, hope, and support they deserve. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 1, 2024, 

as World AIDS Day. I urge the Governors of the United States and its 

Commonwealths and Territories, the appropriate officials of all units of 

government, and the American people to join the HIV community in activities 

to remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS and to provide support, 

dignity, and compassion to people with HIV. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth 

day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and 

of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 

and forty-ninth. 

[FR Doc. 2024–28714 

Filed 12–4–24; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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