AIDS: find a remedy for this disease; we have to draw the public's attention to this problem: young people are in danger!

Every day through TV, radio, or newspaper news, we know more and more cases of AIDS are spreading among the population and people in the world. Unfortunately, the disease ignores borders, countries, races, colors, talent, poor and rich, man and woman.

Scientists call AIDS a fatal disease of the twentieth century. Scientists all over the world have tried to find a cure for AIDS. But they have not yet succeeded in their efforts. Meanwhile, those individuals with HIV/AIDS continue to infect others, to suffer, and to die. Their numbers increase. Hence, all of us have to think: How do we save the healthy people? How do we make people aware of the fatal disease? How do we take care of those who already have the disease? How do we prevent the spread of this disease?

We should remember that thousands of those infected from different parts of the world are waiting for a remedy, waiting for miracle, waiting for that doctor who can save them. At the same time, many healthy people show their contempt to those infected. They humiliate sick people because they are afraid of infection because they think they can be infected through normal everyday contact. Lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS infection and ways of spreading this disease is a problem.

You cannot catch HIV/AIDS through the air, through shaking hands, even through a kiss! But you can catch HIV/AIDS through sex, you can give birth to an HIV/AIDS infected child if you have HIV/AIDS. Those HIV/AIDS infected mothers/fathers unintentionally doom their children to the fatal disease. In fact, hundreds of thousands of newborns already have this disease. These HIV/AIDS infected children are innocent; they inherited this disease from their parents. These children have to live in humiliation, in a cruel world of individuals who do not want their healthy children to come into contact with the infected, to play with them, to share toys, food, joy, parties. They are suffering not only physically, but mentally, too, Very often, they live isolated lives. And it makes their short lives even shorter!

The other dangerous way of becoming infected with HIV is drug use. Drugs affect many young people. Teenagers are often involved in drug smuggling and using. They are so vulnerable. They need support. They need somebody who will educate them about the effect of drugs. Very often, because of their ignorance, they use the same syringes and become infected with HIV/AIDS.

We have to draw the public's attention to this problem: young people are in danger! If they do not have good family relations, good school friends, good social life, they will likely become involved in drugs.

Very often it is difficult to see the difference between healthy and infected individuals. Those infected with HIV often look like healthy people. They are also creatures of God. They are among us. They live with us. They study and work with us. We do not have the right to talk about them; moreover, we do not have the right to condemn them. We have to do something to stop the spread of the disease, to stop HIV/AIDS infections.

We have to develop a campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS. Special educational programs should be implemented at schools for teenagers as well as in the office, at the factories and plants for workers.

These programs should be run regularly. We have a number of newspapers; we have to use them for information purposes. We should involve the international community in this campaign, knowing that they have better experience. They could help us with some posters, booklets, and meetings with young people. They could conduct seminars about HIV/AIDS awareness as well as personal risk assessment and educate groups about how to protect themselves, how to protect those they love, how to give birth to a healthy generation. Some regular programs could be arranged on TV and radio.

The scientists call AIDS a fatal disease of the twentieth century. Now we are living in the twenty-first century. Still, we continue to hope and scientists try to find a remedy for the same disease, which continues to take away the most precious thing given by God: life. It is given only once and all of us should put all our efforts into making it beautiful!

If each and every one will learn what HIV/AIDS is and how to reduce the risk of infection, then we could rely on the improvement of the situation. I am sure all these measures will be of great help against the spread of this awful, fatal disease until our scientists will find a remedy. We will support scientists in their noble work.

So we have a goal: to find a remedy for this fatal disease to fight for a healthy society; to help the society prevent further spreading of the disease. Let us go on together. I am sure we will win!

Some of you probably will say: "It is easy. We know all this." And I will answer: "Why, then, do we still have HIV/AIDS?!" Are you sure you did everything you could?