For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 30, 2001
World AIDS Day
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
infor-mation 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 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.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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