[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 94 (Friday, July 12, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1248-E1249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ADDRESSING THE GLOBAL AIDS PANDEMIC

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 12, 2002

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in urge of dramatic 
funding increases to stop the spread of an epidemic that is taking the 
lives of millions of people throughout the world.
  Today there are more than 40 million people in the world living with 
HIV/AIDS. Last year 5 million people contracted the virus, and 3 
million people died of AIDS related causes. This current health crisis 
was once again brought

[[Page E1249]]

to my attention yesterday, when the Chicago Tribune reported that 
African-Americans account for 67 percent of all newly reported cases of 
HIV in Chicago. They went on to state that the rate of undiagnosed AIDS 
cases among women in Chicago has nearly tripled in the last decade, 
with 80 percent of those women being African-American.
  But Chicago is not the only place where people are affected by AIDS. 
In the words of U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, ``AIDS respects 
no man, woman, or child. It knows no race, religion, class, or creed. 
No community, country, or continent is immune from its ravages. ``
  Ninety-five percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS live in the 
developing world. Across the Atlantic, millions of Africans are 
battling with an epidemic that has ravaged the human capital 
infrastructure, leaving homes and communities barren. The dreams and 
hopes of millions of people have been deferred as men, women, and 
children engage in a losing battle with the silent but powerful enemy 
that is sweeping and dismantling Africa at an alarming rate. Last year 
in sub-Saharan Africa alone 2.3 million people have died from AIDS 
related causes.
  HIV/AIDS has made a devastating impact on the fruit of Africa's 
future, the children. Thirteen million African children have been 
orphaned due to AIDS, by the end of the decade this number is expected 
to exceed 40 million.
  Global infection rates will continue to rise at alarming rates unless 
education and treatment options are made available. Recent surveys in 
17 countries found that more than half of the adolescents questioned 
could not name a single method for protecting themselves against HIV/
AIDS. In developing nations only 6 to 10 percent of HIV-infected people 
are receiving treatment for HIV-related opportunistic infection.
  If we are serious about finding solutions to this epidemic, then I 
charge us to commit ourselves to fighting for the humanity of our 
African brothers and sisters, at whatever the cost. The World Health 
Organization Commission on Macroeconomics and Health estimates that the 
cost of mounting an effective global response to HIV/AIDS could reach 
$14 billion by 2007. This figure includes programs for prevention, 
care, and treatment.
  We must provide life-saving drugs at reasonable cost. We must support 
funding for innovative research in finding a cure. We must support the 
regulation of affordable drugs for all Africans infected by this deadly 
disease. We must support the development of comprehensive HIV/AIDS 
policy for Africa.
  As a civil society, we ourselves must unite to confront this dilemma 
head on, to defeat this plague which has us anxious and on the run. It 
is time for us to stop running and start to act.

                          ____________________