Mr. Speaker, since 1988, World AIDS Day has held a special place in the fight against AIDS.
It gives each of us the opportunity to express our messages of compassion, hope, respect and solidarity to all AIDS victims.
While we are now more familiar with AIDS, it still elicits strong prejudice. We must therefore work together to fight the unjustifiable discrimination that all too often confronts the victims of HIV and AIDS.
Triple therapy represents a real hope now, but its prohibitive cost makes it available for the moment in developed countries only. AIDS therefore continues its ravages throughout the world, especially in Africa.
While the number of AIDS cases in Quebec has dropped in recent years, the number of HIV infections has not. We still do not have a vaccine or successful treatment for AIDS. Prevention remains the only way to fight this ill.
On December 1, let us join together in the fight against AIDS.