Diane Watson: “In honor of World AIDS Day, we must remember that it is estimated that by 2010, one-quarter of South Africa's population…”

“In honor of World AIDS Day, we must remember that it is estimated that by 2010, one-quarter of South Africa's population will be infected by HIV-AIDS. Other African nations are suffering similar rates of infection. In late August, I traveled to South Africa to examine the HIV-AIDS pandemic firsthand. While there, I visited KwaZulu-Natal, a region with the highest HIV infection in the world. In that region, an estimated 1 in 3 adults tests positive for HIV. The time has come for the United States to treat HIV as the threat to global security that it is. Let us not forget that Osama bin Laden has exploited the misery of another state where civil society has collapsed, Afghanistan, to serve as a base for his terror network. The United States must act to prevent HIV from destroying an entire generation, not only of Africans, but those in Afghanistan. I urge my colleagues to remember this day on the 1st of December and ask for a renewed effort to fight against HIV-AIDS in Africa.”