[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 232 (Wednesday, December 3, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 64127-64128]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-31893]



[[Page 64125]]

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Part VI





The President





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Proclamation 7056--World AIDS Day, 1997
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 232 / Wednesday, December 3, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 64127]]

                Proclamation 7056 of December 1, 1997

                
World AIDS Day, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                For more than 15 years, America and the world have 
                faced the challenges posed by HIV and AIDS. This 
                devastating disease respects no borders and does not 
                discriminate. In every city, town, and community, we 
                have lost sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, 
                mothers and fathers, life partners and friends. HIV and 
                AIDS have affected us all, regardless of income, 
                region, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or 
                age. Sadly, both the number of people living with AIDS 
                and the number of new HIV infections is rising 
                worldwide. This year, as we observe the tenth World 
                AIDS Day, we recognize with particular concern the toll 
                HIV and AIDS continue to take on our children and 
                youth.

                The statistics are heartbreaking. In America alone, 
                more than 7,500 children under the age of 13 have been 
                diagnosed with AIDS. Every hour of every day, two more 
                Americans under the age of 21 become infected with HIV. 
                Around the world, more than 1 million children are 
                living with HIV and AIDS. Twelve hundred children die 
                of AIDS each day, even as 1,600 more become infected 
                with the HIV virus. Compounding this tragedy is the 
                terrible reality that many of the world's young people 
                who are living with HIV and AIDS do not have access to 
                the life-extending drugs and medical protocols that our 
                scientists and doctors have developed. There is also a 
                critical shortage of prescription drugs suitable for 
                children suffering from pediatric HIV and AIDS. Of the 
                14 approved drugs for adults and adolescents, only five 
                are approved for children.

                From the earliest days of my Administration, we have 
                sought to meet the challenges posed by AIDS with 
                increased resources and action. I am proud of our 
                success, with the cooperation of the Congress, in 
                dramatically increasing funding for AIDS prevention 
                measures and research. Such programs and research have 
                helped to slow the spread of HIV and AIDS and have made 
                possible the production of new drugs that are extending 
                the lives of people with HIV and AIDS here at home and 
                around the world.

                But our progress against the scourge of AIDS has not 
                been the result of government action alone. We have 
                been able to make these great strides in understanding 
                and treating HIV and AIDS thanks in large part to the 
                hard work and commitment of thousands of researchers, 
                health care providers, and clinical trial participants. 
                I am proud as well of the resounding response of 
                courage, compassion, responsibility, and love that the 
                AIDS crisis has brought forth from our people. The 
                lesbian and gay community, particularly in the early 
                years of this epidemic, energized existing 
                organizations and created new institutions to respond 
                to the unmet needs of those living with HIV and AIDS. 
                Educators and activists, members of religious and civic 
                groups, business and labor organizations, and tens of 
                thousands of other men and women of goodwill have 
                joined together to comfort the afflicted and bring an 
                end to this disease.

                We can rejoice in our progress, but we cannot rest. In 
                May, I announced a new HIV vaccine initiative, and I am 
                pleased that the global community has joined together 
                in making the development of this vaccine a top 
                international priority. Within 10 years, we hope to 
                have the means to stop

[[Page 64128]]

                this deadly virus. But until we reach that day, I call 
                on every American to remain with us on our crusade to 
                eradicate this terrible epidemic and care for those 
                living with AIDS along the way. As we mark World AIDS 
                Day this year, we must continue to provide care for the 
                sick and ensure that all have access to the treatment 
                they need. And one of our most important tasks now is 
                to strengthen our efforts to educate young people about 
                HIV and AIDS and to make available to them and others 
                at high risk effective prevention programs. By giving 
                our children real hope for a future free from the 
                shadows of HIV and AIDS, we can best commemorate the 
                many loved ones we have already lost to the disease 
                during its long and tragic course. May their enduring 
                memory light our journey toward a vaccine for HIV and a 
                final cure for AIDS.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim December 1, 1997, as World 
                AIDS Day. I invite the Governors of the States, the 
                Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of the other 
                territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United 
                States, and the American people to join me in 
                reaffirming our commitment to defeating HIV and AIDS 
                and to helping those who live with the disease. I 
                encourage every American to participate in appropriate 
                commemorative programs and ceremonies in workplaces, 
                houses of worship, and other community centers and to 
                reach out to protect our children and to help all 
                people who are living with AIDS.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-seven, and of the Independence of 
                the United States of America the two hundred and 
                twenty-second.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-31893
Filed 12-2-97; 11:02 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P