Sir Elton John has welcomed Donald Trump’s State of the Union commitment to “defeat Aids in America” within a decade.

Axar.az reports citing Independent.

His announcement followed a campaign by The Independent and Evening Standard to raise awareness about the disease.

During his speech to the joint houses of Congress, the president vowed to take on a problem many thought had been defeated decades ago, but which remains an epidemic for some communities. In the US today, one in two gay black men will be diagnosed with HIV during their lifetime, an infection rate that matches those of cities in southern Africa.

In the address, Mr Trump said the country had made remarkable progress, but he wanted to do even more.

“My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years,” he said. “Together, we will defeat Aids in America.”

Sir Elton, who has devoted decades to raising awareness about the issue of HIV and the treatments now available, said the president’s words were to be welcomed. The award-winning musician and songwriter established the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) in 1992, to promote education and awareness, and fight stigma associated with the illness.

“I applaud President Trump’s announcement of a renewed commitment to ending the Aids epidemic in the United States,” he said. ”While we have made tremendous progress in reducing new infections and reaching those who are at risk or HIV positive with lifesaving testing and treatment services, the epidemic in the US is far from over.

“While early epicenters like San Francisco and New York have seen dramatic declines in the incidence of HIV in recent years, the epidemic in the Southern United States still rages on, particularly among young black men who have sex with men.”

He added: “I saw this first hand when I visited Atlanta recently. Meeting patients and clinicians, city leaders and HIV activists at the Ponce Centre in Atlanta on the eve of World Aids Day last year and hearing their stories was heartbreaking.”