"We remember the friends and loved ones we have lost, stand with the estimated 35 million people living with HIV/AIDS, and renew our commitment to preventing the spread of this virus at home and abroad. If we channel our energy and compassion into science-based results, an AIDS-free generation is within our reach."
U.S. President Barack Obama
"This year's [World AIDS Day] theme, Getting to Zero, serves as a focus point for zero new HIV infections; zero discrimination; and zero AIDS related deaths."
MI Gov. Rick Snyder
"When the World Health Organization established the first World AIDS Day on December 1, 1988, treatment options for people living with HIV were practically nonexistent, and AIDS was almost invariably fatal. Hope was in short supply, and there seemed to be little reason for optimism. I am grateful that the world is a very different place for the 25th annual World AIDS Day."
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
"Achieving an AIDS-free generation is a shared responsibility. Partnerships with host government, civil society, the faith community, the private sector, and multilateral organizations are vital to a robust and sustained global AIDS response. On this World AIDS Day, as we reflect on the extraordinary progress we have made together, it is important to remember that our work is far from finished."
Secretary of State John Kerry
"There are countless of folks who are not here. My Rolodex, when there were days of Rolodexes, was full of folks who didn't make it. I still get calls from folks, from mothers, often, whose sons or daughters have just died from HIV and AIDS, and there's no reason in 2013 that I should still be getting those calls."
Phill Wilson, founder of the Black AIDS Institute
