PORTLAND OPERA   OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY THE CENTER FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH   MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS CENTER, OHSU THE OREGON CANCER CENTER   AFRICA AIDS RESPONSE       Imagine every man, woman and child in Oregon. Plus Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Hawaii and Montana. Now imagine them dead. That’s 14 million people—and that’s the estimate of how many Africans have been killed by AIDS. Fourteen million. An estimated 23 million are HIV positive. This is the staggering scale of the AIDS epidemic that holds Africa in its tightening grip. And in most regions of that continent, total spending on all health care and prevention averages US$4 per person per year. We have to do something—we have to help. In this, the year 2000, estimated life expectancy in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Malawi and Zambia is less than 40 years. How old are you? In Zimbabwe, about 80,000 people die from AIDS every year. There are some 800,000 orphans. One of every four adults is HIV infected. Where to begin? The effort to fight this enormous problem has to start somewhere—why not in one of Portland’s sister cities? You Can Do Something Right Now No enemy is too big to take on, no challenge is too overwhelming to face. All we have to do is begin. You can take on the AIDS epidemic in Africa right now, with nothing more than a pen, your checkbook and your generosity. Please help. In Zimbabwe alone, nearly 10 people died from AIDS in just the last hour. Two-hundred-twenty will die today. You can begin to help today. What more can we say? Thank you for listening.