Tomorrow, on World AIDS Day, the United States reaffirms our commitment to ending HIV/AIDS. This day also serves as a remembrance of the millions who have lost their lives to this disease.  Nevertheless, we remain encouraged by the tremendous progress made by the global health community in controlling HIV/AIDS.

The U.S. Government, through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has transformed the global HIV/AIDS response, and saved millions of lives. Through American leadership and global partnerships, the end of HIV/AIDS as a public health threat is finally in sight.

A disease that once served as a death sentence is being controlled more effectively than ever before.

Along with our interagency PEPFAR partners, USAID is helping to support 13.3 million people around the world with life-saving treatment.  In 2017 alone, we also supported HIV counseling and testing for 85.5 million people, including nearly 11.2 million pregnant women.

Through innovative partnerships like the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) initiative, the United States is helping to reach more than one million adolescent girls and young women with comprehensive HIV programs, including education subsidies as well as school-based programs to prevent HIV and violence. Innovative models, like the USAID-led Sustainable Financing Initiative, mobilize domestic resources for our partner-country governments to better care for their own citizens.

Our efforts are having a profound impact. Five high-burden African countries, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, are already approaching control of their HIV/AIDS epidemic-a feat once thought impossible.  But our work is far from over.

While the U.S. Government continues to lead the way in the global HIV/AIDS response, USAID and our partners will continue to leverage the capabilities, assets, and technological know-how of the private sector.  USAID is proud to work with governments, multilateral institutions, civil society, faith-based organizations, people living with HIV/AIDS, and many others in this important effort. Through these critical partnerships supported by the generosity of the American people, we can reach our shared goal of ending AIDS around the world.