WATCH: Blinken speaks at World AIDS Day commemoration

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken told those attending Friday’s World AIDS Day event at The State Department that the Biden administration launched a new five-year global strategy to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Watch Blinken’s remarks in the player above

The administration released the plan Thursday that advances its response to HIV/AIDS with new global goals for a renewed focus on vulnerable populations.

“Too many countries still have fragile and insufficiently resourced public health systems, which makes it difficult to offer services beyond HIV/AIDS treatments, and that undercuts our capacity to respond to emerging threats,” Blinken told the audience. “We now have a new five-year PEPFAR Strategy; we launched it yesterday.And the primary purpose of that strategy is to fill those gaps.”

The event hosted by the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) in Washington, D.C. marks nearly two decades, as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has helped more than 50 countries around the world fight the AIDS epidemic all while improving global health security, and economic development. More than 650,000 people died due to AIDS-related illnesses last year, according to the White House.

“But here’s the truth. Even as we celebrate the successes of PEPFAR, we cannot we must not lose sight of the very serious work still required for us to end the global HIV health epidemic by 2030. Infection rates are again rising in many parts of the world,” Blinken said.

READ MORE: To respond to monkeypox, health officials’ playbook informed by failures of the AIDS crisis

The new key treatment points across ages, gender, and population groups to support a UNAIDS target to reduce new HIV infections, and close equity gaps for certain groups, including adolescent girls, young women, and children.

“Giving countries the capacity to meet their own challenges so that they’re not dependent on anyone else – and indeed not only the capacity to meet their own challenges, but to help others meet theirs, that is a powerful thing to do and vitally important,” Blinken said.

HIV/AIDS still remains a serious threat to global populations. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (known by its acronym AIDS), is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS is the most advanced stage of infection with HIV, the virus that causes a person to eventually develop AIDS.

Every year, World AIDS Day is marked across the globe on December 1 since 1988, but in 1981, it was the first time that a case of this disease was diagnosed.

In addition, every year on that date science announces new advances made in the battle against the HIV/AIDS pandemic with the aim of making it not only a commemoration but also a day of awareness for prevention and also as a show of support. to the people who contain it.