Randall Tobias, Global AIDS Coordinator, U.S. Department of State

Initiative Session Date: September 23, 2004

Summary:
Randall Tobias spoke to the Initiative about the state of HIV/AIDS, the U.S. response to this crisis, the need for leadership and the role of the private sector. He started out by saying that the U.S. private sector has an enormous role to play in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. He said he hoped to prompt audience members to reflect on the opportunity to respond to this crisis through the Initiative. Tobias explained the difficulty of communicating the toll that HIV/AIDS is taking globally because of the sheer magnitude of the numbers. Each day 8,000 people die from AIDS, the equivalent of losing an entire undergraduate class at the University of Washington. 38 million people are infected with the virus, more than the entire population of California. Tobias emphasized that the AIDS pandemic is first and foremost a human tragedy, but that it also holds grave consequences for global health, social development and security. Above all, said Tobias, HIV/AIDS is a destroyer of hope – and without hope people can be driven to extremes. Tobias explained the President's emergency plan to fight HIV/AIDS in over 100 countries. This plan focuses on the most severely affected countries. Tobias closed with remarks on the critical role of leadership. Tobias argued that leadership, including leadership within the private sector, is the most important way to turn the tide of this pandemic. It must involve bringing new resources to bear and being a catalyst for new initiatives, such as public-private partnerships.

"We live in an increasingly interconnected world, one in which hopelessness in one region can clearly affect people in another."

     -Randall Tobias, speaking to the Initiative for Global Development

Biography