For A people that have survived centuries of slavery and colonialism and race based terror HIV/AIDS represents today the most serious threat to the survival of people of African descent. HIV/AIDS is not only a serious threat to the genocide of millions of Africans affected with HIV/AIDS it is also the fastest growing leading cause of death amongst African Americans and people of African descent throughout the world.

The growth of HIV/AIDS amongst African Americans is especially peculiar given the national education campaigns of condom use and safe sex over the last ten years. Although African Americans make up only about 12 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for half of the new HIV infections reported in the United States in 2001. According to the Center for Disease Control, African Americans have accounted for more than 320,000, or 38 percent, of the more than 833,000 estimated AIDS cases diagnosed since the beginning of the epidemic. By the end of December 2001, more than 168,000 African Americans had died from AIDS.

In Africa the situation is critical, according to World Health Organization director Dr. Lee Jong, "The greatest challenge facing us now is the challenge of HIV/AIDS. In the African Region, more than 30 million people are HIV-positive. People are dying every day. They urgently need treatment."