White House: FACT SHEET: World AIDS Day 2015 — The Time to Act Is Now
“[Tuesday], in conjunction with World AIDS Day, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy [released] the Federal Action Plan for 2016-2020, which outlines specific Federal agency actions to implement the updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy next year and through 2020. This Federal Action Plan, along with our updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and continued investments in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), underscores the administration’s commitment to an reaching an AIDS-free generation…” (12/1).

U.S. Department of State: Statement on World AIDS Day 2015
In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, “…Since 2003, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for 9.5 million men, women, and children across the world. And thanks to President Obama’s leadership, bipartisan support in Congress, and the generosity of the American people, that number will grow to 12.9 people by the end of 2017. That’s an extraordinary achievement that all Americans can be proud of…” (12/1).

USAID’s “Impact”: Why Right Now Is the Right Time to Act Faster to Stop Unnecessary HIV/AIDS Deaths
Emily Reitenauer, a program assistant on the Gender Team for the Technical Leadership and Research Division in the Office of HIV/AIDS in USAID’s Global Health Bureau, discusses her tenure as a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana and the importance of providing antiretroviral therapy to all people living with HIV (12/1).

Center for Global Development’s “Global Health Policy Blog”: World AIDS Day DREAMS Made Real: How Cash Transfers for Girls Can Work
Amanda Glassman, vice president for programs, director of global health policy, and senior fellow at CGD, advocates using cash transfers as a tool for reaching adolescent girls at risk of contracting HIV risk through the DREAMS program (12/1).

Center for Global Development’s “Global Health Policy Blog”: UNAIDS and African AIDS Programs Agree That Effective HIV Prevention Depends on Location, Location, Location
CGD Senior Fellow Mead Over discusses the importance of subnational HIV infection data, writing, “…The new understanding of the effectiveness of geographically differentiated HIV intervention spending is generating a demand for more granular data on HIV prevalence and on HIV service statistics, such as condom distribution, male circumcision progress, and treatment uptake…” (12/1).

ONE Blog: 2015 AIDS Report: Tracking progress and peril
Erin Hohlfelder, ONE’s policy director for global health, discusses ONE’s 2015 AIDS Report, in which “we warn that a growing sense of complacency and fatigue threatens to derail the progress achieved and the momentum needed to accelerate the world’s collective efforts against the disease…” (12/1).

PLOS’ “Speaking of Medicine”: More people, more time, better data — what we need to ‘treat-all’ with HIV
Helen Bygrave, an HIV/TB adviser in Médecins Sans Frontières’ Southern Africa Medical Unit, examines the WHO’s new “treat all” policy, including “the key implementation issues” and lessons from larger treatment initiatives such as PMTCT B+ (12/1).