54. Work to eradicate AIDS

State of the Union pledge

"… and by realizing the promise of an AIDS-free generation, which is within our reach."

Background

In the United States, approximately 50,000 Americans are infected with HIV every year. The disease continues to have a disproportionate impact on homosexual men, those in poverty and African Americans. Globally, deaths from AIDS have declined in recent years. There were 1.7 million deaths related to AIDS in 2011, down from 2.3 million in 2005, according to UNAIDS. At the end of 2011, approximately 34 million people were living with HIV worldwide, according to UNAIDS' 2012 Global Report. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the hardest hit area of the world: almost one in 20 adults there have HIV, which constitutes 69% of those worldwide living with the disease. President George W. Bush started the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, in 2003 to aid nations most affected by AIDS.

Developments

• March 4: Physicians in Mississippi announce that they have cured a child infected with HIV.

Related content

• The AIDS epidemic: Beginning of the end?
• Most young people with HIV don't know they're infected

Sources: Paste BN research; UNAIDS; Associated Press