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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING WORLD AIDS DAY 2025
WHEREAS, World AIDS Day is observed on December 1st each year and serves as a day of solidarity for people around the world who are currently affected by HIV and to remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses; and
WHEREAS, the first World AIDS Day took place in 1988, providing a platform to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and honor the lives affected by the epidemic; and
WHEREAS, today over 40 million people worldwide continue to live with HIV, including more than one million people in the United States; and
WHEREAS, according to the World Health Organization an estimated 1.3 million people acquired HIV in 2024, with approximately 630,000 people having died from HIV-related causes; and
WHEREAS, since the first World AIDS Day over 35 years ago, continual progress has been made in preventing, detecting, and treating HIV - greatly reducing annual HIV diagnoses and transmissions; and
WHEREAS, for example, HIV.gov reports that estimated new HIV infections have declined 12% from 2017 to 2021; and
WHEREAS, this progress is thanks to organizations that tirelessly work to combat this virus, including the Cook County Health Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center, which was founded by the Cook County Bureau of Health Services to focus on the prevention, care, and research of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases; and
WHEREAS, since it opened its doors in 1998, the CORE Center has remained one of the largest HIV/AIDS clinics in the United States and treats more than 6,000 patients annually; and
WHEREAS, through partnerships with people living with HIV, community-based organizations, health care providers, government agencies and others, Illinois has dramatically shifted the impact of HIV/AIDS across the state through Getting to Zero Illinois, a state-wide initiative to end the HIV epidemic in the state by 2030, which is coordinated through organizations such as the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the Illinois and Chicago Departments of Public Health; and
WHEREAS, additionally, the U.S. has consistently been the top financial supporter of the global fight against HIV/AIDS, primarily through President George W. Bush's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which has invested more than $110 billion into the global effort since it launched in 2003; and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that this funding has prevented 25 million early deaths; and
WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, as of 2019 though only 13 percent of the U.S. population is Black, they account for 42.1 percent of HIV infection cases; and
WHEREAS, roughly 13% of those with HIV in the U.S. don’t know they have it and need testing; and
WHEREAS, in honor of the commemoration of this important day, this year’s theme for World AIDS Day is "Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response", calling for sustained political leadership, international cooperation, and human-rights-centered approaches to end AIDS by 2030; and
WHEREAS, thanks to these improvements in detection, treatment, and the advent of combination antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV, those infected with the virus have been living longer and experiencing fewer of the medical conditions directly attributable to HIV infection and AIDS; and
WHEREAS, despite over three decades of recognition of World AIDS Day, and after years of dedicating funding to fight the disease, The Trump Administration’s State Department announced that the United States would not commemorate World AIDS Day in 2025; and
WHEREAS, this marks the first time the U.S. has not participated since the World Health Organization created this day in 1988; and
WHEREAS, since the start of President Trump's second term, his administration has made major cuts to global health spending and programing that has disrupted HIV/AIDS care in many parts of the world - including making it challenging for some HIV-positive individuals to get their medication in places such as Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Kenya, according to UNAIDS; and
WHEREAS, World Aids Day is usually when the state department shares PEPFAR data about cumulative and annual progress with Congress, and this data has yet to be delivered; and
WHEREAS, these measures by the Trump administration are a stark contrast to last year’s ceremony on the South Lawn with then-President Joe Biden hosting the first White House display of AIDs memorial quilt panels, memorializing more than 110,000 lives lost; and
WHEREAS, it is through remembrance and continual dedication that we draw strength and determination to redouble our efforts in fighting the disease and providing support to those living with HIV; and
WHEREAS, Cook County continues to acknowledge our collective responsibility to act, whether through working to improve health equity, promoting education and awareness, or supporting organizations that work tirelessly to serve those at risk and living with HIV and AIDS;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the President and the Cook County Board of Commissioners do hereby proclaim December 1st, 2025, to be World AIDS Day in both commitment and remembrance of all those impacted by HIV and AIDS-related illnesses.
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