Mr. Speaker, today, on this first day of December, people throughout the world are stopping a few moments to reflect on what can be done to wipe out the terrible scourge called AIDS. This epidemic of a disease that scarcely ten years ago was little known to the public is today a cause for concern throughout the world and spares none of its victims.
According to the World Health Organization, by the middle of 1994, more than 16 million adults and one million children had contracted the AIDS virus since the beginning of the pandemic. Even worse, by the year 2000, the cumulative total of people infected by the virus will be between 30 and 40 million, while the total number of cases of full-blown AIDS will be close to 10 million. No responsible government, in the United States or in France, in Italy or in Africa, can afford to overlook the fact that the fight against AIDS must include a campaign to promote safe sex.