James A. Leach: “By perspective, let me just very briefly say that nothing is more difficult than to provide some sort of perspective to…”

“By perspective, let me just very briefly say that nothing is more difficult than to provide some sort of perspective to issues of the day, but if we look at the 14th century, 20 million people died of the bubonic plague, and it would be hard to conclude that that was not the most important incident of the century. Today we have almost reached that figure with AIDS. Within a decade we may be at a multiple of that figure. It is anything but inconceivable not to conclude that exterminating this deadly disease is not the most important issue of our age. This approach that we have adopted is seminal. It is a part of the picture of dealing with AIDS, not the whole picture but a very significant part and with the combination of reduction in debt burdens of the developing world stands as the most significant effort the United States Congress has ever taken for the developing world and one of the most significant efforts the United States Congress has ever taken towards disease control and prevention. This is an extraordinary, symbolic measure, one that we are going to have to build upon but a firm and thoughtful step in the right direction.”