Social Action Committee News

Though the media now rarely covers the topic, the AIDS epidemic is fast becoming the worst health catastrophe in human history. More than twenty million people have died from AIDS. Around the world there are now estimated to be over 38 million people infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Without treatment, they too will die. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that “AIDS can destroy countries and destabilize entire regions.”

President Bush is currently drafting his proposed Budget for 2005. Now is the time for all of us, in the spirit of” tikkun olam”, to contact President Bush, and our congressmen, to urge them to provide funding for the U.S. to meet its fair share of the global effort to fight AIDS. You can contact the White House Comment Line at 202-456-1111, or log on to www.rac.com and click on the “Take Action Now” link.

The World Health Organization’s goal of putting three million people on antiretroviral treatment by the end of 2005, can only happen if countries like the U.S. dramatically increase their commitment to fighting AIDS, and do so financially. As Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center stated in observance of World Aids Day, “for the sake of our shared humanity, we cannot afford to fail.”

Let’s be sure to make ourselves heard.