While I'd been studying the health care system with a powerful research lens, it wasn't until I heard my father's voice break as he described his ongoing battle with this broken system that I truly understood the purpose of my work.

A worldwide 1,000-day countdown begins today and has the potential to accelerate efforts to save and improve millions of lives by the end of 2015.

We are taking a stand -- for ourselves and for the children just like us around the world. Every child deserves an opportunity to grow up, to have a fifth birthday, to have a first kiss, to follow their dreams -- and if they want, to have a family of their own someday.

Mothers are not just our clients and our patients. They are full partners in our efforts to end pediatric AIDS -- particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 90 percent of new pediatric infections occur.