(NEXSTAR) — The White House held an event Sunday to commemorate World AIDS Day with survivors, their families, and advocates.
First Lady Jill Biden spoke first, reaching out to “a fellowship of people who have lost sons or daughters.”
“Though we are strangers, we know untellable truths about one another,” Dr. Biden said. “That we will spend the rest of our lives longing for a face that’s gone forever.”
In President Biden’s remarks, he thanked medical professionals for all of their work fighting against AIDS, including direct recognition of former White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, and retiring HRSA Associate Administrator Dr. Laura Cheever.
He also expressed appreciation for the families of AIDS victims, as well as for survivors of the disease.
“I know the fight to end this terrible epidemic is hard,” President Biden said, “but I look around today at all of you – survivors, families, heroes, who have never given up – and I know it’s a fight we’re gonna win.”
The historic AIDS Memorial Quilt was also on display at the event. A section of the quilt was previously displayed at The White House during President Barack Obama’s administration in 2012.
This event comes as AIDS research is pushing further to try and make the disease a thing of the past.
In a report issued to mark World AIDS Day on Sunday, UNAIDS said that the number of AIDS deaths last year — an estimated 630,000 — was at its lowest since peaking in 2004, suggesting the world is now at “a historic crossroads” and has a chance to end the epidemic.
World AIDS Day was first held in 1988, and aims to “show strength and solidarity against HIV stigma and to remember lives lost.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
