Mr. Speaker, today is World AIDS Day. As the official opposition foreign affairs critic I would like to take this opportunity to bring to the attention of the House the serious ongoing destruction this disease has on human beings worldwide.
A United Nations report released last week states that 30 million people worldwide are infected with HIV or have AIDS itself. An alarming statistic is that 90% of these people infected live in developing countries. By the year 2000 this report predicts that 40 million people will be infected with this horrible disease.
The continent of Africa is home to more than half of the known HIV cases. This, however, is quickly changing as the disease is spreading rampant in the countries of Asia, especially in India where as many as 5 million HIV infected persons live.
The Reform Party and I urge all countries to work together so that we will be able to find a cure for this terrible disease.