10 Key Advocacy Moments In The Fight Against HIV/AIDS

In honor of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 -- and as Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria celebrates its 10th anniversary as an advocate in the battle against these diseases -- we're looking back at 10 inspiring advocacy moments in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the past 10+ years.

1. In 1992, Mary Fisher brings HIV awareness to the forefront of the Republican National Convention.

Mary Fisher Productions / Via youtube.com

Hailed by the New York Times as "one of the best American speeches of the 20th century," HIV-positive activist Mary Fisher's speech at the 1992 RNC helps bring HIV and AIDS into mainstream political discourse.

Among her powerful remarks: "[The] AIDS virus is not a political creature. It does not care whether you are Democrat or Republican; it does not ask whether you are black or white, male or female, gay or straight, young or old. ... We may take refuge in our stereotypes, but we cannot hide there long, because HIV asks only one thing of those it attacks. Are you human?"

2. In 2001, Kofi Annan calls for a war chest to fight HIV/AIDS.

Via c-span.org

By the early 2000s, HIV/AIDS had become the leading cause of death worldwide among people ages 15-59. In 2001, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan creates a pivotal moment by calling for united global action – a global fund – to fight AIDS. In 2002, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is established in Geneva, Switzerland.

3. In 2002, the Heart of America tour gets the word out to Americans about the AIDS emergency in Africa.

Paul Natkin / DATA Foundation / Via u2.com

In December 2002, humanitarian organization, Debt, AIDS, and Trade in Africa, led by U2 lead singer Bono, conducts a Heart of America speaking tour through the Midwest. Working with the faith community and others, the organization seeks to increase awareness of the AIDS emergency and the need for relief for Africa.

“This is the defining moral issue of our time," Bono repeatedly told church congregations during the tour. “God is on his knees to the church on this one…begging us to turn around the supertanker of indifference on the subject of AIDS."

4. President George W. Bush and Congress establish PEPFAR in 2003 to help fund the U.S. response to a global epidemic.

AVERT / Via avert.org

In 2003, President George W. Bush and Congress establish the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) as a five-year, $15 billion initiative to address the HIV epidemic, primarily in hard-hit developing countries.

5. Other crucial organizations are established to help secure HIV/AIDS funding.

Friends of the Global Fight / Via theglobalfight.org

In 2004, Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Friends) is founded to advocate on behalf of the Global Fund in the United States. That same year, the ONE campaign is founded to, in part, raise public awareness and work with political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases. Not long afterward, in 2006, (RED) is established to help provide a sustainable flow of money from the private sector to fight AIDS.

Since then, these and other advocacy partners have helped the Global Fund achieve progressively larger funding from its biggest contributor, the U.S. government — from $435 million in FY 2005 to $1.65 billion in FY 2014.

Friends celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

6. The FDA approves lower-cost, generic HIV drugs for the first time in 2005.

Photo © The Global Fund / John Rae / Via theglobalfight.org

In 2005, under PEPFAR and a new expedited approval process, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the first ever combination HIV drug regimen manufactured by a non-U.S.-based generic pharmaceutical company, helping to expand access to lower-cost HIV/AIDS therapies across the world.

7. The United States' PEPFAR program is reauthorized and expanded three-fold in 2008 with bipartisan support.

The Book Archive / Via youtube.com

In 2008, Congress passes and President Bush signs a five-year, $48 billion reauthorization and expansion of the PEPFAR global AIDS program with the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act. The bill was named in memory of its original sponsors, Reps. Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), who worked across the aisle to expand global access to HIV/AIDS interventions.

8. In 2011, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others call for an 'AIDS-Free Generation.'

Evan Vucci / AP / Via npr.org

On World AIDS Day in 2011, President Obama declares that an AIDS-free generation is within our reach, amplifying similar statements by fellow politicians such as John Kerry, Susan Rice, Samantha Power, President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

9. HIV study named '2011 Breakthrough of the Year' for improving HIV prevention.

H. Darr Beiser / USA Today / Via videos.usatoday.net

The HPTN 052 clinical trial, an international HIV prevention trial run by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, is named by the journal Science as the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year. The trial found that putting patients on antiretroviral therapy reduced the transmission of HIV to partners by 96 percent.

"The HPTN 052 study convincingly demonstrated that antiretroviral medications can not only treat but also prevent the transmission of HIV infection among heterosexual individuals," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., who also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008 for decades of service in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including his work to help create PEPFAR.

10. President Obama pledges support for PEPFAR and the Global Fund in 2013.

The White House / Via youtube.com

On World AIDS Day 2013, which coincides with The Global Fund's Fourth Voluntary Replenishment Conference, President Obama announces that the United States will "contribute $1 for every $2 pledged by other donors over the next three years, up to $5 billion total." President Obama also signs into law the PEPFAR Stewardship and Oversight Act of 2013, co-authored by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), to reaffirm the United States' strong commitment to HIV/AIDS global programming.