Feature story

UNAIDS Executive Director addresses US academia on AIDS

20 September 2007

20070921_PP_240.jpg
Dr Piot noted the leadership role that
has been played by the United States
in addressing the global AIDS
epidemic. Photo credit: H. Fancher

UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot participated in a forum at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., discussing the United States’ important role in the global AIDS response and the upcoming reauthorization of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. U.S. Representative Nita M. Lowey and Kent R. Hill of the U.S. Agency for International Development also spoke at the forum.

During his speech, Dr Piot noted the leadership role that has been played by the United States in addressing the global AIDS epidemic, and called on the country to maintain and strengthen this commitment. “We must accelerate our efforts, and broaden them—by bolstering our long-term, sustainable efforts to fight this disease,” he said. “For the United States in particular, that means sustaining the leadership role you have played in recent years. Your investments have had powerful results for many people around the world. We need your leadership to continue – and intensify – on all fronts.”


The UNAIDS Executive Director is in the United States to speak with leaders from government and civil society about the state of the global AIDS epidemic and role U.S. organizations can play in the response. On Tuesday 18 September he addressed students and faculty at Washington D.C.’s Howard University. Next week he will give the keynote speech at a symposium on children and AIDS at Harvard University Medical School.



Links:

Read Dr Piot's speech at Harvard University Medical School
Read Dr Piot's speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Watch webcast of the event
Listen to the interview to Dr Piot by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
See archived presentations by Dr Piot at the Wilson Center
Read more on Dr Piot's intervention at Howard University