[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 234 (Wednesday, December 5, 2001)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 63149-63150]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30279]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 234 / Wednesday, December 5, 2001 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 63149]]

                Proclamation 7510 of November 30, 2001

                
World Aids Day, 2001

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                This year marks the 20th year that the world has been 
                fighting the disease that we now know as Acquired 
                Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). AIDS has inflicted a 
                terrible toll upon the world, taking millions of lives 
                and causing untold grief to the families and friends of 
                its victims. An estimated 40 million people worldwide 
                are living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), 
                which causes AIDS; and more than 8,000 people across 
                the globe die from AIDS every day. Sadly, since its 
                inception, AIDS has claimed the lives of more than 22 
                million individuals.

                This year's World AIDS Day theme is ``I Care . . . Do 
                You? Youth and AIDS in the 21st Century.'' The goal 
                underscoring this year's theme is ensuring greater 
                education and involvement of young people in preventing 
                HIV/AIDS. And it seeks to stress that every individual 
                has both the responsibility and the opportunity to help 
                prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to assist those 
                suffering from the disease.

                In many countries, including the United States, young 
                people and adolescents are at a higher risk for 
                contracting HIV infection. We know from epidemiological 
                data that young people under the age of 25 comprise 
                half of all new HIV infections worldwide. This sobering 
                reality is a clarion call to public health networks 
                around the world to redouble their efforts in providing 
                information to young people about preventing HIV/AIDS, 
                and most importantly, about abstinence and how it can 
                help to prevent the spread of this disease.

                The AIDS epidemic has had a devastating impact on 
                diverse communities, and disadvantaged youth have borne 
                the brunt of this devastation. Impoverished conditions 
                and depressed economic circumstances tend to accompany 
                an increased presence of HIV in these communities. We 
                must develop and implement better ways to communicate 
                to youth about abstinence and other effective measures 
                that will help them to avoid the disease and to 
                envision a future filled with possibility.

                We must also continue our efforts to develop a vaccine 
                that will protect individuals from becoming infected 
                with HIV. Our children deserve to live in a world free 
                from the fear of HIV/AIDS, and the United States will 
                not weaken in its resolve to lead the world towards 
                that goal.

                As we enter the third decade of the AIDS pandemic, our 
                hearts go out to those who have been afflicted with or 
                affected by this deadly disease. We resolve to stand 
                together as a Nation and with the world to fight AIDS 
                on all fronts. We resolve to provide the resources 
                necessary to combat HIV/AIDS. And we resolve to ensure 
                that those suffering with HIV/AIDS receive effective 
                care and treatment, compassionate understanding, and 
                encouraging hope.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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, 2001, as World 
                AIDS Day. I invite the Governors of the States and the 
                Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of the other 
                territories subject to the jurisdiction

[[Page 63150]]

                of the United States, and the American people to join 
                me in reaffirming our commitment to combat HIV/AIDS. I 
                encourage every American to participate in appropriate 
                commemorative programs and ceremonies in workplaces, 
                houses of worship, and other community centers to reach 
                out and protect and educate our children, and to help 
                comfort all people who are living with HIV and AIDS.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand one, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and twenty-sixth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 01-30279
Filed 12-4-01; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P