Today, 8,000 people worldwide will lose their lives to HIV/AIDS, and another 14,000 will become newly infected. This pandemic is one of the greatest tragedies of our time. Along with malaria, tuberculosis, malnutrition, and unsanitary water, AIDS is one of the global ills which exacerbates extreme poverty and mocks our claim to the essential dignity of every human life. Yet this need not be the case; not only is AIDS preventable, but medicines called antiretrovirals are capable of transforming the disease from a death sentence into a manageable chronic condition. But for millions of destitute sick in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and elsewhere, this life-saving medicine is financially out of reach.
Last week, Senator Obama pledged that if he is elected president, he will help turn the tide against HIV by requesting that the US contribute $50 billion over five years to the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Ultimately, this contribution—which represents less than one-tenth of one percent of U.S. GDP—will save four million lives. Four million mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters will be able to experience the joy of longer, healthier lives. This is the truest brand of American leadership, in the tradition of President Truman's Marshall Plan to rebuild postwar Europe and President Kennedy's Peace Corps. As Senator Obama explained in a speech on World AIDS Day last December at the Saddleback Church in California:
We can embrace another tradition of politics - a tradition that has stretched from the days of our founding to the glory of the civil rights movement, a tradition based on the simple idea that we have a stake in one another - and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done for the people with whom we share this Earth.
Last week's landmark announcement did not go unnoticed by voters concerned about global AIDS and global poverty. Christina D'Allesandro, a member of New Hampshire Fights AIDS, knew just how much Obama's leadership meant: "I am thrilled to see that Senator Obama is coming out so clearly in favor of a comprehensive and fully-funded approach to global poverty." Meanwhile, in Ames, Iowa, Reverend Randy Gehring was equally grateful: "Iowans want to know, in detail, how the candidates would ensure America keeps its promises, including in the area of HIV/AIDS. Senator Obama has made clear how we can do that while at the same time ensuring our response to poverty is broad and effective." We know—as Barack laments—that "we are all sick because of AIDS"; but we know, too, that we have in our hands the power to overcome.
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