World AIDS Day 2007

Today is World AIDS Day. More than 30 million people have this condition. Will it ever end?

Too many children throughout the world have been orphaned because of HIV/AIDS. Millions of children growing up without parents is definitely not a healthy mental environment for the world's citizens. There are consequences for all of us.

HIV can be spread through sexual contact, through blood transfusion, through contaminated needles and the breast milk of an infected mother. HIV/AIDS does not discriminate against ethnicity, gender or sexual preference.

In memory of those who have passed away because of AIDS, I say I am sorry for the pain you had to endure. I apologize for my fellow humans who may have subjected you to physical and emotional pain, especially through isolation and stigmatization.

Let us continue to support efforts to find a cure for AIDS and to support organizations that help to bring comfort to the victims of HIV/AIDS.