HIV/AIDS is one of the most serious challenges facing humanity. It is estimated that 45 million people worldwide will be infected with HIV in the coming decade. And some 44 million children will lose one or both parents to AIDS in those same ten years.

Though HIV/AIDS is taking an especially harsh toll in disadvantaged communities, this disease is exacting a personal, social and economic toll in every neighborhood and in every nation.

Here are some facts:

Approximately 900,000 Americans are living with HIV/AIDS. And many of them don't even know they are infected.

In the Washington metropolitan area alone, an estimated one in 20 adults are living with HIV.

There is no vaccine and no cure for HIV/AIDS.

Overall, HIV/AIDS spending by the U.S. government has increased from $14.2 billion in fiscal year 2001 to well over $16 billion for fiscal year 2003. That includes a doubling in international HIV/AIDS funding over the same period

Consider what YOU can do in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Learn the facts about AIDS and carry the facts into your workplaces and communities. We must talk about HIV/AIDS, get tested and if positive,seek treatment. For more information on HIV/AIDS, call the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National AIDS Hotline at 1-800-342-2437.

Please join the World AIDS Day observance and continue this important fight, so that our children's children will see our efforts today as the turning point in defeating this deadly epidemic.