PLANNED PARENTHOOD: THE TIME TO ACT IN THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS IS NOW

On World AIDS Day, PPSNE calls for continued progress against HIV/AIDS. 

(New Haven, Conn.) — World AIDS Day is December 1 and as part of its commitment to the sexual and reproductive health and rights of all people, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE) joins the global community in declaring that we must continue to make progress in fighting HIV/AIDS. Now is the time to double down on efforts to fight for an AIDS-free generation.

“Planned Parenthood is the region’s leading educator, advocate and provider of HIV testing in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Rather than supporting efforts to expand health access in our communities and across the U.S. and around the world, we anticipate in the next round of budget negotiations that anti-women’s health officials will continue to push for funding cuts and policy riders that play politics with people’s lives, including defunding Planned Parenthood,” said Judy Tabar President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. “On World AIDS Day, I encourage the community to #StandWithPP and support efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and advance reproductive health around the world.”

Since the Millennium Development Goals were first adopted in 2000 through 2013, new HIV infections fell by roughly 40 percent. But the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to affect millions of people around the world and in the U.S, with marginalized communities disproportionately impacted and millions newly infected each year. In many places hardest hit by the epidemic globally, adolescent girls and young women face poverty, gender inequality, exclusion, discrimination, lack of education, and violence, which put them at increased risk of acquiring HIV. The UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, and Planned Parenthood will play a key role by helping to ensure governments implement the agenda, so that this vision becomes a reality.

“Now is the time to move forward, not backward, on this issue which has impacted so many millions around the world,” said Cecile Richards President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “The U.S. should continue to provide robust support for global health programs, including HIV/AIDS and reproductive health care. Let’s protect our progress, and double down on our efforts to fight for an AIDS-free generation.”

In Connecticut and Rhode Island, PPSNE health centers provided more than 17,000 HIV tests and provided information and education to more than 70,000 people.  Planned Parenthood of Southern New England also helps patients who need additional care connect with trusted, quality resources.

For more information, visit ppsne.org. 

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Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE) is one of the region’s largest providers of family planning and reproductive health care services. Since 1923, PPSNE has evolved into an organization with 18 health centers in Connecticut and Rhode Island, delivering care to nearly 70,000 patients annually, and 90 percent of the services provided are preventive.