US President Barack Obama said Friday that the world must rededicate itself to beating HIV/AIDS, on the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the disease.
"We pause to mark the 30 years we have been fighting HIV/AIDS," Obama said in a statement.
"As we remember people in our own lives we have lost and stand by those living with HIV/AIDS, we must also rededicate ourselves to finally ending this pandemic -- in this country and around the world."
The Obama administration last year issued a comprehensive HIV/AIDS strategy that was designed to reduce new infections and improve care for people already living with the disease.
The plan to combat the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) calls for action from federal, state and tribal governments and medical and scientific communities.
It includes more than 100 specific directives to federal agencies to develop standards for prevention programs and other steps to meet the new goals.
The plan is designed to intensify HIV prevention efforts in most at risk communities, including gay and bisexual men, African-American men and women, the Latino community, addicts and drug users.
It also envisages improving the education of all Americans about HIV/AIDS and how to prevent the spread of the disease.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States has claimed nearly 600,000 lives, though has faded from the headlines in recent years, as new life-extending anti-retroviral drug therapies have emerged.
Around 1.1 million people are currently living with HIV, according to official figures.
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