Eva M. Clayton: “I rise before my colleagues to talk about the HIV and AIDS pandemic. The AIDS pandemic has devastated many countries in…”

“I rise before my colleagues to talk about the HIV and AIDS pandemic. The AIDS pandemic has devastated many countries in Africa, leaving few men and women and children untouched. Sub-Sahara Africa has been far more severely infected by AIDS than any other part of the world. In 16 countries, all in sub-Sahara Africa, more than 1 in 10 adults is affected by the HIV virus. According to a joint report issued by the United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS, one-half or more of all 15 year-olds will eventually die of AIDS in some of the worst areas affected such as Zambia, South Africa, and Botswana. Over 34 million HIV/AIDS cases are in the world, and 24 million or 70 percent are in Africa. I recently visited Botswana to see up close the destruction this disease has caused. Approximately 35 percent of Botswana's adult population is affected by HIV. AIDS has cut the life expectancy in Botswana from 71 years to 39, according to Karen Stanecki of the United States Census Bureau during an appearance at an international AIDS conference held in South Africa in July of 2000. The visit that I made strengthened my conviction to do my part in bringing the awareness to this issue and to work with my colleagues in Congress, national governments, State and local governments, and activists around the world to do more for the people who have the virus and to do more to stop the spread of the disease.”