Who is Going to End the AIDS Epidemic?

Jake Glaser, founder, Modern Advocate; ambassador, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Foundation and member, End AIDS Coalition, shares who he feels is going to end the AIDS epidemic.

Interview Transcript (modified slightly for readability):

“If there is one thing that I could tell healthcare specialists that treat patients with HIV [it would be:] remember the world that you are a part of and the world that you are about to be a part of creating. Thirty years ago, the idea that we could be creating a future for individuals that are HIV-positive, one that provides them the opportunity to have undetectable viral loads, have children of their own, and understand that HIV is no longer a death sentence [was unfathomable]. These healthcare providers are creating life, and they have to understand that is something that is so precious to every single patient that they reach. They have to become more excited than ever in knowing that if they stay steadfast and they keep implementing the work that they do, they are going to be the ones that are going to end this epidemic.

The most important thing that we could possibly share—the most important message that we can put out there—is that this happens on the community level. Without the healthcare providers, the community leaders, and the individuals that are on the ground in these communities providing the treatment to the patients that need it, none of this gets done. I wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for them.”