We’re all Facing AIDS one photo, message, video, blog at a time.

November 30, 2012 • 1 comment • By Michelle Samplin-Salgado, New Media Strategist, AIDS.gov

We launched the Facing AIDS photo sharing initiative on World AIDS Day five years ago to give individuals worldwide an opportunity to reflect on their involvement in ending the AIDS epidemic. Since then, thousands of you have submitted messages and stories about why you are Facing AIDS. What started as a photo sharing campaign to demonstrate how photo sharing can extend the reach of HIV-related work, has evolved into people sharing their stories using blogs, podcasts, and video. Regardless of the medium, we’re reminded that we are all in this together, whatever our reason may be.
In our third “story behind the sign,” Ken Williams created a video to share his story about why he (along with his friends and colleagues) is facing AIDS this World AIDS Day.

We encourage you to view the Facing AIDS gallery to see photos of people living with HIV, the people (friends, family members and even pets) who love them, and the hundreds of people who are working every day to move us closer to an AIDS-free generation.
Be inspired by the photos. By Ken’s video. By the stories you read and listen to. Then join us by sharing your photo and voice for World AIDS Day. We all have a story. We all have a message. We are all facing AIDS.
Learn more about photo sharing

World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day

November 30, 2012 • 0 comments • By Steve Morin, R.N., B.S.N., Health Programs Coordinator, FDA Office of Special Health Issues

CDR. Steve L. Morin, R.N., B.S.N.

Cross-posted from the FDA Blog
World AIDS Day has been observed in the United States on December 1 since 1995. When I look back at early World AIDS Day observances, I remember them as a way of raising awareness of the men, women and children who had no advocates, no representation, no medicines, and practically no hope. They eventually died from the disease early in the epidemic.
In the beginning, World AIDS Day was an important platform for the HIV/AIDS community to help raise awareness among the many people who had never known or even met anyone living with HIV/AIDS. In those early years, the focus was on finding a treatment and keeping those diagnosed with the disease alive.
Last year marked 30 years since AIDS was first reported in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (MMWR), emerging as a permanent part of our lives. Today, when I think about World AIDS Day, I think of it as a day to acknowledge how far we have actually come in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We’ve come so far—not only in treatment, but also in preventing new infections, and reducing or eliminating the stigma associated with this disease.
The Food and Drug Administration supports the fight against HIV/AIDS by promoting medical innovation, protecting the blood supply, and reviewing and regulating new and existing medical products, including devices used in prevention, such as condoms and medical gloves. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, scientists and many others at FDA have worked hard in 2012 to make sure that there are safe and effective medical products and devices available to fight HIV/AIDS. I am happy to say that this year there were four major advances in the battle against HIV.

Truvada is the first HIV drug approved for prophylactic (preventive) use. It has been shown to reduce the risk of sexual transmission of the HIV virus to uninfected adults.
OraQuick In-Home HIV Test is the first rapid home-use oral HIV test kit that does not require sending a sample to a laboratory for analysis. This test has the potential to identify previously undiagnosed HIV infections, especially if used by those unlikely to visit a doctor’s office or clinic.
Stribild is the first HIV medicine to combine four separate drugs and is the third HIV drug that can be taken once daily.
The number of antiretroviral drugs tentatively approved or approved for use under the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, has surpassed 150. PEPFAR is a program to treat those infected with HIV/AIDS in countries that lack the tools needed to fight the AIDS epidemic.

So today, as World AIDS Days approaches, I ask that you take a moment to remember the combined effort of patients, researchers, industry, FDA and other government agencies contributing to the successes in fighting HIV/AIDS. There are currently 36 approved therapies for treating HIV/AIDS in the United States. As new therapies are added to the list of treatments, patients’ quality of life has improved, with fewer side effects and simpler therapeutic regimens that make adhering to therapy easier. People living with HIV are now able to focus on life rather than death. Until there is a cure, we will continue to work together for an AIDS-free world.

White House Office Hours: World AIDS Day 2012

White House Office Hours: World AIDS Day 2012

November 30, 2012 • 0 comments • By Erin Lindsay, Deputy Director of Online Engagement for the Office of Digital Strategy, The White House

Cross-posted from the White House blog.

A red ribbon is displayed on the North Portico of the White House, Nov. 30, 2010, in advance of World AIDS Day. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) (Official White House Photo)

Last year, on World AIDS Day, President Obama announced ambitious new targets in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, and on the domestic front focused on investment to support the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy to fight the epidemic here at home. In the President’s speech that day he said: “we are going to win this fight. But the fight is not over…”
One year later, the President’s commitments have translated into real measurable progress. Internationally, we’ve seen that ambitious treatment and prevention targets announced by the President are on track to be met, and domestically, the number of Americans living with HIV on waiting lists for medication has dropped by over 95%.
Have questions about steps the Obama Administration has taken both domestically and abroad as we move toward an AIDS-free generation? Tomorrow, Friday, November 30th at 3:00 p.m. ET join us for a special session of White House Office Hours with Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and Gayle Smith, Senior Director, National Security Council. During a live Q&A on Twitter they will answer your questions about the Obama administrations role in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
Here’s are the details:

Ask your questions now and during the live event on Twitter with the hashtag #WHChat
Follow the Q&A live through the @WHLive and @VJ44 Twitter accounts
If you miss the live Q&A, the full session will be posted on WhiteHouse.gov and Storify.com/WhiteHouse

So take a few minutes and l earn more about how the White House is honoring World AIDS Day 2012 and then join us for Office Hours on Twitter with Valerie Jarrett and Gayle Smith on November 30th at 3:00 p.m. ET.