On December 1st—World AIDS Day—Housing Works is calling for a National Day of Action in Washington, DC. We will gather for mass mobilization, civil disobedience, and direct action. The exact location will be announced for those who signed up.

With the support of AIDS United, NMAC, and Health GAP, we will come together to honor the lives lost to HIV/AIDS and to confront the deadly consequences of political obstruction. Since the start of the epidemic, over 44 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses worldwide. Today, 40.8 million people are living with HIV globally—including 1.4 million children. These lives hang in the balance as the Trump administration slashes HIV public health initiatives and programs and the global HIV funding through PEPFAR.

The Trump Administration is illegally withholding billions in congressionally appropriated PEPFAR funds. Of the $6 billion approved for FY2025, only $2.9 billion has been released. This chokehold on lifesaving HIV prevention and treatment is already costing lives. Experts warn that these cuts could result in up to 74,000 excess HIV deaths in Africa alone by 2030. And these attacks don’t stop at PEPFAR funding. This Administration has repeatedly targeted both global and domestic HIV funding, while also dismantling the federal infrastructure and workforce that is necessary to provide essential lifesaving HIV services. The United States Agency for International Development has been shut down, cutting off access to global HIV funding and support to millions of people living with and affected by HIV, while entire branches of the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention have been eliminated, along with more than 14,000 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Even during a prolonged government shutdown, The White House has overseen mass firings across federal agencies—including critical branches of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which manages roughly one-third of PEPFAR’s global programming and is responsible for all federal domestic HIV prevention efforts. These actions are dismantling the very infrastructure that communities rely on to survive.

We recognize and deeply honor the many local World AIDS Day events planned across the country. These gatherings are sacred spaces of remembrance, resistance, and community. Our action in DC is not meant to overshadow or replace them—it is meant to amplify them. The local is global, and the global is local. The policies made in Washington reverberate through clinics, homes, and communities everywhere. We stand in solidarity with every vigil, march, and memorial.

All of us need to add to our many important demands, the following:

• Fully restore PEPFAR programming by directing the White House Office of Management and Budget to release all withheld funds in accordance with Congressional appropriations.
• Hold the Trump Administration accountable for their illegal obstruction and the harm caused to vulnerable communities worldwide.
• Prevent any cuts to federal HIV funding from being included in FY26 appropriations bills and include language in those bills mandating that the Trump Administration spend that funding as Congress intends it to be spent.

World AIDS Day is not just a date on the calendar. It is a sacred moment to remember the millions of lives taken by HIV/AIDS. It is a day to honor the resilience of those who fought for treatment, dignity, and survival. And this year, it is a day to rise up.

We call for solidarity. We call for action. We call to end the HIV epidemic.

About the Organizers:

Housing Works: A healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, working to end the dual crises of homelessness and HIV through advocacy, services, and justice.

About the Supporting Organizations:

AIDS United: A national organization dedicated to ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S. through strategic grantmaking, policy, and advocacy.

NMAC: Is a national organization that offers capacity building, leadership development, policy education, and public engagement to end the HIV epidemic among communities of Color.

Health GAP: A global advocacy organization fighting for access to HIV treatment and healthcare for all, especially in low-income countries