Political Quotes

“HIV/AIDS has become a world-wide pandemic. More than 16 million people have died of AIDS. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization, WHO, have estimated that over 32.4 million adults and 1.2 million children around the world are already living with HIV. Half of all people who acquire HIV become infected before they turn 25 and typically die of AIDS before their 35th birthday. The overwhelming majority of people with HIV live in the developing world, and that proportion is likely to grow even further as infection rates continue to rise in countries where poverty, poor health systems, and limited resources for prevention and care fuel the spread of the virus. Sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of HIV and AIDS, with close to 70 percent of the global total of HIV-positive people. Over 14 million Africans have already been claimed by the disease, leaving behind shattered families and crippled prospects for development. There have also been recent reports of growing problems in China, India, and elsewhere. Of course, the United States is not immune to this virus, and its spread globally only contributes to risks in America. It is estimated that approximately 90 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa do not know if they are HIV infected or not. They have no means of gaining this vital knowledge so that they can protect themselves and others.”