Thursday, February 7, 2008

Obama on National Black HIV / AIDS Awareness Day

HIV/AIDS is appropriately described as a global challenge. Yet we know that the struggle against HIV/AIDS is not distant – our determination to take action must begin in our own communities.
A report released a few months ago on the state of HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia makes this point painfully clear. Over 12,500 people living in the District are known to have HIV/AIDS. One in 20 residents has HIV, and 1 in 50 has AIDS – the highest rate of infection of any city in the country. The impact is particularly grave in the African American community, as more than 80 percent of HIV cases identified in the District between 2001 and 2006 were African Americans.


More at Obama's Web Site

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