Access=Life

Did you know that it has been 25 years since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were reported?

What was once considered a gay men's problem is rapidly becoming a global women's epidemic due to social and biological factors that make women far more vulnerable to the virus than men. More than half of all people living with HIV/AIDS today are women and, in the hardest hit countries, five young women are infected for every one young man!

Experts at the recent International AIDS Conference in Toronto agreed: the best way to fight AIDS is to empower women around the world to protect themselves.

Please join in building on the momentum of the Toronto conference by calling on President Bush to tackle the global AIDS crisis before it is too late. President Bush must fight AIDS by ending violence against women, promoting gender equity, and ensuring universal access to prevention, treatment and support for women and girls living with or threatened by HIV/AIDS before it is too late.

The goal is to gather 25,000 petition signatures by World AIDS Day on December 1st. Click here to sign the access=life petition to President Bush now.

The AIDS crisis continues to grow at a frightening pace -- over 38 million people around the world currently live with the virus and millions more will become infected this year.

The link between women's status and the HIV/AIDS pandemic is finally gaining widespread recognition. World leaders and public health advocates are now calling for changes in the way societies treat women and girls. It is clear that giving women access to education, health care, economic opportunities, and decision-making power will be the key to both protecting women from the virus and preventing a global AIDS catastrophe.

Please join now in signing the access=life petition to urge President Bush to commit the U.S. to empower women worldwide to protect themselves from AIDS. Click here to sign the petition now.

There's no time to waste -- lives are being lost. That is why we have set a goal of collecting 25,000 petition signatures by World AIDS Day on December 1st.

Please help reach this goal by asking your friends and family to join you in taking action. Twenty five years is too long -- we must act now to turn the AIDS crisis around.