[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 23632]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                             WORLD AIDS DAY

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, every December first since 1988, World 
AIDS Day has been a day dedicated to sending messages of compassion, 
hope, solidarity, and understanding.
  Commemorating this day is a small but important gesture, and it is 
the least we can do in the face of the worst pandemic mankind has ever 
known. Yesterday, UNAIDS and the World Health Organization released a 
joint report that illustrates the enormity of the AIDS pandemic. The 
numbers are so staggering that they are almost incomprehensible. There 
are now 40 million people living with AIDS. Two point seven million of 
them are children. In the past year, there have been 5 million new HIV 
infections and 3 million AIDS deaths.
  Many countries are seeing their future--embodied in their young 
people--ravaged by this disease. People under the age of 25 represent 
half of all new HIV infection cases, and there are now 10 million 
people between the ages of 15 and 24 living with HIV/AIDS. Every 
minute, five more young people are infected with HIV. As I have argued 
before, this is not just a humanitarian issue, it is also an economic 
and national security issue.
  The International Labor Organization reports that by 2020, AIDS will 
reduce national workforces so much that countries with the highest 
rates of prevalence will see their GDPs drop by as much as 20 percent 
in the next 20 years. How can companies in these nations afford the 
increased costs for insurance, benefits, training, and illness in his 
environment?
  The Food and Agriculture Organization reports that 7 million farm 
workers have died from AIDS-related causes since 1985, and 16 million 
more are expected to die in the next 20 years. How can these countries 
maintain--let alone increase--agricultural output under these 
circumstances?
  The United Nations reports that in 1999, 860,000 students in sub-
Saharan Africa lost their teachers to AIDS. How can countries educate 
their children with these losses? These numbers are a disturbing 
snapshot of the epidemic today. Tragically, they may only be the tip of 
the iceberg.
  Experts tell us that the epidemic in many parts of the world is still 
in its early stages. Globally, most people infected are unaware they 
carry the virus. Many millions more know nothing about HIV and how to 
protect themselves against it. If we are ever to staunch the AIDS 
epidemic, we must continue--and increase--our efforts at prevention.
  Since the 1980s, the United States has found prevention efforts such 
as school-based education, perinatal prevention programs, and screening 
the blood supply, to prove effective. As a member of the family of 
nations, we have to do a better job of promoting and supporting 
international prevention and education programs. We were able to take a 
positive step in the foreign operations appropriations bill, where the 
Senate added significant funds to invest in prevention programs around 
the globe.
  I am hopeful the final bill will include those funds, but prevention 
and treatment must go hand in hand, because without treatment options, 
at-risk individuals have no incentive to submit to testing or to 
practice prevention. We have taken some positive steps in treating HIV/
AIDS, but much more needs to be done. We have worked hard to invest 
$300 million for the U.N. Global Trust Fund on AIDS, TB, and Malaria. 
While it is not nearly enough for this challenge, it is a significant 
first step.
  As that fund is developed, we have to make sure that its resources 
are dedicated to fighting this disease on all fronts--including 
treatment. While there is pressure to limit the focus of the fund to 
prevention alone, that would be a mistake--and it would limit our 
ability to develop a comprehensive agenda to confront this pandemic.
  The theme designated for this year's World AIDS Day is simply: ``I 
care. Do you?'' While our words today are important, it is our action 
every day--on all fronts, in all nations--that are the true measure of 
our caring. On this day, let us recommit ourselves to fighting, and 
ultimately defeating, this scourge.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

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