Together We Can, Together We Will – PAI Honored by New Partnership with Congressional Black Caucus in Global Effort to Combat HIV/AIDS

September 12, 2002

Washington, DC — Population Action International is pleased to partner with the Congressional Black Caucus' Health Braintrust on the Global HIV/AIDS Update 2002. This year's theme, "Together We Can, Together We Will," explores strategies for mounting and sustaining a global effort to combat this deadly pandemic.

In recognition of this partnership, PAI President Amy Coen today issued the following statement:

"With each passing day, 14,000 people are infected with HIV, and 8,000 die of AIDS. These kinds of numbers are deplorable — especially when we have the information and the tools to prevent HIV. A concerted effort to promote the ABCs of prevention can dramatically transform these harrowing statistics. For those who choose not to have sex, abstinence is the best way to prevent HIV. But for those who are sexually active, we have an obligation as well as an ethical and moral responsibility to educate about and promote the use of condoms by those at risk of infection. Abstinence, being faithful and condom use must be at the heart of any efforts to prevent the spread of HIV — just as care and treatment should be there for those already living with the disease. Together, developed and developing countries, governments, NGOs and the private sector, men and women -- armed with the tools of prevention -- can indeed win the fight against HIV/AIDS."