The World Must Remain Vigilant in the Fight Against HIV and AIDS

A Statement by Dr. Helene Gayle, President and CEO of CARE and Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, in Recognition of World AIDS Day

ATLANTA (December 1, 2009) - The fight against HIV and AIDS has seen great progress, with global deaths from the disease declining over the past two years. However, roughly 2 million people die each year from HIV and AIDS and 38 million people are living with the disease, which for many in the world means living in social seclusion with little access to education, health care or economic opportunity.

The fight against HIV and AIDS is intertwined with the fight against global poverty. Women and girls are more vulnerable to HIV and AIDS for a variety of reasons: they are less able to negotiate conditions for sexual relations, are more prone to sexual violence, they often marry at an early age to older men, and they are more susceptible to poverty which pushes them into higher risk situations in order to feed themselves and their children.

We must empower women to take control of their own lives; enable them to provide for themselves and their children financially; and ensure educational opportunities for girls to improve their chances for healthy and prosperous lives. We also must help communities care for children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS; develop peer education and outreach in communities; and increase access to services aimed at prevention and treatment.

CARE believes that HIV and AIDS programs must provide information and services to vulnerable groups while addressing the underlying factors that lead people to make choices that put them at risk of infection. CARE integrates the fight against HIV and AIDS into the organization's efforts to improve maternal health, expand economic opportunities for women and promote girls' education and leadership. AIDS remains a leading killer of mothers in some of the nearly 70 countries where CARE works. And reduced infection rates are among the benefits seen from programs that help women adapt to climate change, for instance, or start their own businesses with microloans.

On the 21st anniversary of World AIDS Day, my message is this: the world must remain vigilant in the fight against HIV and AIDS if we are to mitigate the long lasting and crippling effects of the disease on the lives of countless millions. AIDS is more than a devastating infectious disease. It is a complex, social, economic, cultural and political challenge that requires a unified and multi-dimensional solution.

Dr. Helene Gayle
CARE President and CEO
Chair, Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS

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