[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 97 (Thursday, June 12, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      EXPRESSING CONCERN ABOUT HIV/AIDS EPIDEMICS IN THE CARIBBEAN

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                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 12, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my concern about 
the increasing rate of HIV/AIDS infections in the Caribbean.
  Caribbean nations are the areas of the highest occurrence of the HIV/
AIDS disease. United Nations reports that Haiti, Belize, Barbados, the 
Bahamas and other neighboring countries have the prevalence ratio which 
comes second only after the sub-Sahara region. The developing countries 
are hit hardest by these epidemics, which are devastating families, 
labor forces and economies. Undoubtedly, substantial progress has been 
made in preventing and treating the disease. Many people in the 
Caribbean are provided with life-prolonging anti-viral medications and 
therapies. A growing number of pregnant women are receiving drugs that 
prevent passing the viruses from mother to child during pregnancy and 
child-labor. Still, many more people are urgently in need of 
medications to keep them alive. In 2007, nearly 2.5 million people were 
newly infected, mainly from the Caribbean and sub-Sahara regions. 
Developing countries work hard on providing the poor with life-saving 
medications. It is crucial that they continue such important work.
  Universal access and reduced cost of disease-fighting drugs remain 
the main issues in dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. I hope that many 
more Americans are concerned about the spread of the HIV/AIDS disease 
and join in the struggle against the deadly virus.

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