Presidential Documents

64127

Federal Register

Vol. 62, No. 232

Wednesday, December 3, 1997

Title 3—

The President

Proclamation 7056 of December 1, 1997

World AIDS Day, 1997

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

For more than 15 years, America and the world have faced the challenges

posed by HIV and AIDS. This devastating disease respects no borders and

does not discriminate. In every city, town, and community, we have lost

sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, life partners

and friends. HIV and AIDS have affected us all, regardless of income, region,

gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or age. Sadly, both the number

of people living with AIDS and the number of new HIV infections is rising

worldwide. This year, as we observe the tenth World AIDS Day, we recognize

with particular concern the toll HIV and AIDS continue to take on our

children and youth.

The statistics are heartbreaking. In America alone, more than 7,500 children

under the age of 13 have been diagnosed with AIDS. Every hour of every

day, two more Americans under the age of 21 become infected with HIV.

Around the world, more than 1 million children are living with HIV and

AIDS. Twelve hundred children die of AIDS each day, even as 1,600 more

become infected with the HIV virus. Compounding this tragedy is the terrible

reality that many of the world’s young people who are living with HIV

and AIDS do not have access to the life-extending drugs and medical protocols that our scientists and doctors have developed. There is also a critical

shortage of prescription drugs suitable for children suffering from pediatric

HIV and AIDS. Of the 14 approved drugs for adults and adolescents, only

five are approved for children.

From the earliest days of my Administration, we have sought to meet the

challenges posed by AIDS with increased resources and action. I am proud

of our success, with the cooperation of the Congress, in dramatically increasing funding for AIDS prevention measures and research. Such programs

and research have helped to slow the spread of HIV and AIDS and have

made possible the production of new drugs that are extending the lives

of people with HIV and AIDS here at home and around the world.

But our progress against the scourge of AIDS has not been the result of

government action alone. We have been able to make these great strides

in understanding and treating HIV and AIDS thanks in large part to the

hard work and commitment of thousands of researchers, health care providers, and clinical trial participants. I am proud as well of the resounding

response of courage, compassion, responsibility, and love that the AIDS

crisis has brought forth from our people. The lesbian and gay community,

particularly in the early years of this epidemic, energized existing organizations and created new institutions to respond to the unmet needs of those

living with HIV and AIDS. Educators and activists, members of religious

and civic groups, business and labor organizations, and tens of thousands

of other men and women of goodwill have joined together to comfort the

afflicted and bring an end to this disease.

We can rejoice in our progress, but we cannot rest. In May, I announced

a new HIV vaccine initiative, and I am pleased that the global community

has joined together in making the development of this vaccine a top international priority. Within 10 years, we hope to have the means to stop
64128 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 232 / Wednesday, December 3, 1997 / Presidential Documents

this deadly virus. But until we reach that day, I call on every American

to remain with us on our crusade to eradicate this terrible epidemic and

care for those living with AIDS along the way. As we mark World AIDS

Day this year, we must continue to provide care for the sick and ensure

that all have access to the treatment they need. And one of our most

important tasks now is to strengthen our efforts to educate young people

about HIV and AIDS and to make available to them and others at high

risk effective prevention programs. By giving our children real hope for

a future free from the shadows of HIV and AIDS, we can best commemorate

the many loved ones we have already lost to the disease during its long

and tragic course. May their enduring memory light our journey toward

a vaccine for HIV and a final cure for AIDS.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution

and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 1, 1997, as

World AIDS Day. I invite the Governors of the States, the Commonwealth

of Puerto Rico, officials of the other territories subject to the jurisdiction

of the United States, and the American people to join me in reaffirming

our commitment to defeating HIV and AIDS and to helping those who

live with the disease. I encourage every American to participate in appropriate commemorative programs and ceremonies in workplaces, houses of

worship, and other community centers and to reach out to protect our

children and to help all people who are living with AIDS.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of

December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven,

and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred

[FR Doc. 97–31893

Filed 12–2–97; 11:02 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

and twenty-second.

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