The State Department issued a terse statement last week saying, "an awareness day is not a strategy." The result is that on December 1, the United States is not commemorating World AIDS Day. It's the first time the U.S. has not participated since the World Health Organization created this day in 1988 to remember the millions of people who have died of AIDS-related illnesses and recommit to fighting the epidemic that still claims the lives of more than half a million people each year.
By contrast, last year former President Joe Biden held a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House with the AIDS Memorial Quilt — with coffin-shaped patches each honoring someone who had died of AIDS-related causes — spread out on the grass. And this year, despite the Trump administration's change of heart, countries around the world are marking the day with proclamations, public health campaigns and commemorative ceremonies.
Then and now
President Trump has nothing planned for this year and the State Department has instructed employees not to mark the day.
Tommy Pigott, a spokesperson for the State Department, confirmed the decision not to commemorate the day, writing in a statement that the country is "modernizing our approach to countering infectious diseases" and that "under the leadership of President Trump, the State Department is working directly with foreign governments to save lives and increase their responsibility and burden sharing."
Some HIV/AIDS activists reacted with frustration to the news — and with protests.
"I think it's emblematic of an administration that doesn't seem to care," said Mitchell Warren, the executive director of AVAC, a global HIV prevention organization based in the U.S.
The U.S. has consistently been the top financial supporter of the global fight against HIV/AIDS, primarily through President George W. Bush's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which has invested more than $110 billion into the global effort since it launched in 2003.
However, since the start of President Trump's second term, almost a year ago, his administration has made major cuts to global health spending and programing as it champions an America First approach and emphasizes countries being weaned off aid. This has disrupted HIV/AID care in many parts of the world — including making it challenging for some HIV-positive individuals to get their medication in places such as Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Kenya, according to UNAIDS.
"Is this a symbolic act? Yes, it is and it symbolizes something that is actually devastating and chaotic," says Warren.
The U.S. is not alone in reducing international aid, as other countries – including France, Germany and the United Kingdom — have scaled back on foreign assistance as they shift priorities. The UNAIDS report for World AIDS Day this year warned of "ruinous consequences."
Protesters gathered outside the White House on Monday, demanding that funding be restored. Asia Russell – executive director of Health GAP, a global HIV advocacy organization – was one of them. She says the decision not to mark the day was reminiscent of the early days of the HIV/AIDS fight when the disease was highly stigmatized and overlooked as a public health crisis.
In recent years, medical advances have meant there's been progress in the combatting new HIV/AIDS injection and getting those who are already infected on treatment.
"So what's missing is political will, and that lack of political will was on devastating display when the White House announced that it would ban commemoration of this pandemic. It's truly depraved and outrageous," Russell says, adding that there were about 100 other people at the protest.
The decision not to mark World AIDS Day is in line with the administration's broader approach to WHO and the United Nations more broadly. Trump has been critical of multilateral organizations like the U.N. and of WHO's handling of COVID. One of his first moves, on inauguration day, was to start the process of removing the U.S. from the WHO. However, the Trump Administration has marked other days designated by the UN, such as World Autism Awareness Day. The White House issued a proclamation for that day.
World AIDS Day "only exists on the calendar because of pressure from people with HIV and their communities fighting back against stigma," Russell says. "A commemorative day, as minor as that might sound, is actually life-saving work to chip away at that deadly stigma."
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