Signing Reaffirms Baltimore’s Commitment to Ending HIV, Supporting Residents Diagnosed with HIV

BALTIMORE, MD. (Thursday, July 27, 2023) – Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott joined Fast-Track Cities, a global partnership with cities and municipalities around the world with a goal of ending HIV, to sign the latest iteration of the Paris Declaration. This action reaffirms Baltimore’s commitment in the effort to end HIV and support residents who have been diagnosed.

“The City of Baltimore remains committed to the objectives of the Paris Declaration on Fast-Track Cities Ending the HIV Epidemic that city officials signed in 2015 — and I’m proud to be reaffirming that commitment by signing the most recent iteration today,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “Together, we can move towards eliminating this epidemic, while also erasing inequities fueled by racism, homophobia, transphobia, and other factors that continue to make people vulnerable to stigma and social marginalization.”

In December 2015, due to the rising rates of HIV in Baltimore, the City joined the Fast-Track partnership and signed the Paris Declaration on World AIDS Day. Since that time, the partnership has yielded significant results. The number of new HIV infections in Baltimore declined from 541 in 2016 to 170 in 2021.

The latest iteration of the Declaration includes increases of the original 90-90-90 targets to 95-95-95 targets (95% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 95% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and, 95% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression).

The FTC partnership is made up of four core partners – the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), and the City of Paris. The City of Baltimore will continue to work with partners and dedicate resources and funding to ending the HIV epidemic.