[…] Medical researchers in Thailand have developed an approach to prevent HIV the same way it has been treated, by using a combination vaccine to successfully halt the spread of the disease. Public health officials announced September 24 in Bangkok that they successfully used two previously unsuccessful HIV vaccines in combination in a large, six-year study to prevent people from getting HIV, which causes AIDS. The vaccines used in the study cannot cause HIV infection because they are not made from and do not contain the whole virus, active or dead, the medical researchers said.

AIDS targets the young and strong. It leaves children without parents, schools without teachers, hospitals without nurses and doctors, fields without farmers. It undermines economies, it widens poverty, it sows the seeds of instability. And for families, its damage is measured in loved ones lost; in nations, it’s measured in potential lost.
And six years ago, President Bush launched a path-breaking response to the AIDS epidemic, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR.

[…] A new partnership between universities in the United States and Africa aims to be an agent for change in improving health outcomes for those afflicted with HIV-related diseases. With help from a $4.97 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a collaborative effort between Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, seeks to enhance research and improve health in Uganda and East Africa.

[…] First of all – and I think you all have a fact sheet that’s got two rather extraordinary tables – figures, rather, showing not only the final result but the annual results. Five years ago, the President set a final goal, but also annual targets to achieve that goal, and we’ve pretty much met them every year. And that’s a rather extraordinary thing. Sadly, it’s not something that happens in government all that often, where you set goals with intervening annual benchmarks and achieve them.

[…] When PEPFAR was announced, the President set out aggressive goals of supporting treatment for 2 million people, preventing 7 million new infections, and care for 10 million people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable children. It is estimated that in 2003.

[…] Since 2004, the United States has supported anti-retroviral treatment for more than 1.64 million people in 15 countries. South Africa, with the world's biggest HIV-positive population, received $600 million in funding in 2008 through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The U.S. Agency for International Development provides funding to development groups that implement the programs.

[…] THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Today is World AIDS Day, a day we reaffirm our commitment to fight HIV/AIDS at home and abroad. Thirty-three million people around the world are living with HIV, including more than one million Americans. Once again this year, to observe World AIDS Day, there is a red ribbon on the North Portico of the White House. The ribbon is a symbol of our resolve to confront HIV/AIDS and to affirm the matchless value of every life.

[…] According to estimates from the UNAIDS 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, around 30.8 million adults and 2 million children were living with HIV at the end of 2007. On December 1, at 8 a.m. EST (13:00 GMT), in commemoration of World AIDS Day, Dr. Amita Gupta will discuss the impact of HIV/AIDS, the fight against it and the treatments for it, paying particular attention to anti-retroviral treatment and the management of opportunistic infections, such as tuberculosis, that plague those infected with AIDS.

[…] The fight against HIV/AIDS is a noble and necessary battle. As part of this fight, in 2003 my Administration launched the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through this program, the United States has partnered with other countries, local communities, and faith-based organizations around the world to support HIV/AIDS treatment, care, and prevention activities. In July 2008, we worked with the Congress to reauthorize this important program for another 5 years.

[…] For World AIDS Day, December 1, United States leaders are calling on Americans to celebrate life and commemorate those who were once dying but are now living and thriving in the fight against the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS. The State Department encouraged its posts to mark AIDS Day 2008 by “celebrating the work of the dedicated men and women in nations affected by HIV/AIDS who are choosing life, saving the lives of their fellow countrymen and women, and creating hope for a future free of HIV/AIDS.”

[…] The Tesfa community association in western Addis Ababa, an idir that has adopted a new name and broader mission, helps 4,300 orphans and vulnerable children as well as the elderly people who have become their caregivers. “Many grandparents take care of their grandchildren because [the children’s] parents have died from AIDS,” said Tesfa chairman Berehnu Abera. “The demand for our services is rising because of the epidemic.

[…] According to estimates from the UNAIDS 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, around 30.8 million adults and 2 million children were living with HIV at the end of 2007. On December 1, at 8 a.m. EST (13:00 GMT), in commemoration of World AIDS Day, Dr. Amita Gupta will discuss the impact of HIV/AIDS, the fight against it and the treatments for it, paying particular attention to anti-retroviral treatment and the management of opportunistic infections, such as tuberculosis, that plague those infected with AIDS.

[…] “I like to come here because I get a chance [to] learn,” said 13-year-old Zama, one of 300 children who were selected for the Ambassador’s Girls’ Scholarship Program (AGSP) funded by the U.S. government. All the children, 150 girls and 150 boys, have been orphaned or infected by HIV/AIDS. They faced bleak and, in some cases, short futures before they were brought into the program, which is run by the Humana People to People charity.

[…] The children were ecstatic to have standing before them Kami, the star of Takalani Sesame, the South African spin-off of the American children’s television program Sesame Street. Kami showed up at the Soweto Hospice and the Mapetla Day Care Center on October 13 to commemorate World Hospice and Palliative Care Day and to thank the U.S. government for its part in combating the scourge that is sickening and killing millions of South Africans.

[…] Caring for those living with HIV/AIDS is a priority for organizations such as Hope for All and Love and Faith.
Through USAID grants, they have expanded services and hired paid staff, after they had previously relied on volunteers. One particularly valuable service offered is home-based care.
Staffers visit people living with HIV/AIDS to provide support and even academic help to their children. The groups also give skills classes — focusing on sewing and gardening — to help patients make a living.

[…] The world’s largest AIDS meeting, held every two years, opened August 3 with addresses by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan. AIDS 2008 was convened by the International AIDS Society. Participating in the meeting, whose theme is Universal Action Now, are more than 25,000 scientists, advocates and community and political leaders.

[…] “Just a few years ago, HIV/AIDS raged out of control,” Bush said July 30 at the ceremony where he signed the legislation. “An entire continent was caught in the pandemic's merciless grip. In countries like Botswana, AIDS had cut the average life expectancy by 15 years.” Today, “the outlook is really different,” Bush said. “HIV/AIDS is still one of the world's greatest humanitarian challenges, no question about it, but it is a challenge we're meeting. And a lot of it has to do with PEPFAR.”