Political Quotes

“I am proud that the 19th biennial International AIDS conference is being held in the Nation's Capital after 22 years of being held abroad. President Obama was instrumental in bringing the conference back to the United States by announcing in October 2009 that the United States would lift its entry restriction on people living with HIV. The United States has been the leader in combating the scourge of HIV/AIDS, and it is fitting that this significant meeting of the best and brightest scientists, philanthropists, activists, government leaders, and people living with HIV/AIDS is taking place in Washington, DC. It is made even more symbolic by the fact that Washington, DC, has the highest rate of AIDS than any city in the Nation. As we look to ``Turn the Tide Together,'' as the theme of the conference indicates, we must continue to support a number of long-term strategies both at home and around the world, building on the successes we have seen in the past few decades. Significant scientific breakthroughs have been made this year alone, and we can see investments we have made to fight HIV/AIDS beginning to pay off. The National Institutes of Health, for example, released a study last fall on the HPTN 052 clinical trial that showed that if newly infected individuals started antiretroviral treatment when their immune systems are relatively healthy, they are 96 percent less likely to transmit the virus to their uninfected partner.…”