It Is Not Too Late To Choose The Future

The window of opportunity is closing, but it is not too late to choose a future in which…

…HIV and AIDS are no longer global health threats

• Strong American leadership is vital to maintaining the global commitment and to ensuring adequate funding.

• Universal access to HIV prevention and treatment services, provided without judgment, stigma, discrimination, or fear of criminal prosecution, will ensure that all who need help will receive it, including marginalized and vulnerable populations.

• Education and empowerment of young people will prevent a dramatic rise in new HIV infections.

…the HIV epidemic in the United States is over.

• Robust funding for the new Ending the AIDS Epidemicprogram will dramatically reduce new HIV infections in the United States.

• Further health coverage expansion would help ensure that HIV services are available to all, even in the context of the shifting demographics of the epidemic in the United States.

• Basing policies for HIV education, prevention, testing, and treatment services on scientific evidence will ensure that they are the most effective.

…faith leaders and communities are strong vital partners in ending AIDS.

• Faith-based institutions have long been important providers of HIV services, and they must continue to play this role as long as the epidemic continues.

• Strong advocacy by prominent religious leaders, stressing the moral urgency of acting now to end AIDS, can serve as a much-needed global conscience.

• Faith communities can be instrumental in reducing stigma, in supporting adherence to treatment, in educating and empowering young people, in reducing gender-based violence, and in reaching out to the marginalized.