The Hill: To end AIDS, we must address the forces driving it
Raniyah Copeland, president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, and Chris Beyrer, Desmond M. Tutu professor of public health and human rights at Johns Hopkins University

“…During his State of the Union earlier this month, President Trump announced a bold new plan to end HIV in the U.S. over the next decade. HHS has since specified targets of a 75 percent reduction in new HIV infections in five years and at least a 90 percent reduction in ten years. This goal is affordable and feasible but will only succeed with meaningful engagement of people living with HIV and a focus on the underlying factors driving the epidemic. … To accelerate progress at home, we can draw inspiration from global policy. Established under President George W. Bush and reauthorized for the third time this past December, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) remains one of our country’s greatest bipartisan success stories. … The International AIDS Conference in 2020, to be held in Oakland and San Francisco offers a platform for U.S. officials to demonstrate global leadership. … Our call to action for lawmakers is to authorize funding for the new U.S. HIV strategy — and to remove harmful policies that will undermine progress. … That the new Congress is younger and more reflective of the communities hardest hit by HIV than ever before gives us hope that this is possible” (3/3).