World AIDS Day; War in Iraq
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is</s>YOUR WORLD TODAY. JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: From Nairobi to New Delhi, activists mark World AIDS Day by taking steps to bring awareness to the deadly disease.</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: How many people had a full meal today?</s>GUPTA: How many people know somebody's who's died of HIV? Wow. Everybody.</s>COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a country once ravaged by genocide, our medical correspondent reports on how Rwandans are living with</s>AIDS. CLANCY: And eying the polls. We are going to tell you what Americans think about the U.S. president's plan for victory in Iraq. It's right now 10:30 p.m. in New Delhi, 12:00 noon in Washington. I'm Jim Clancy.</s>MCEDWARDS: And I'm Colleen McEdwards. Welcome to our viewers throughout the world. This is CNN International and this is YOUR WORLD TODAY. The United Nations describes it this way: an exceptional global threat that requires an equally exceptional response.</s>MCEDWARDS: That's right. We begin with international efforts to curb the spread of HIV and AIDS on this World AIDS Day.</s>CLANCY: And despite the progress, Colleen, that's been made in some key areas -- we've heard about that -- the number of people living in HIV today has never been higher.</s>MCEDWARDS: That's right. And we are going to see actually which countries are the hardest hit and what it is like to actually live with HIV as we go continent to continent in our coverage.</s>CLANCY: All right. Now first, just an idea of how widespread the disease is. Forty million people worldwide now infected with HIV. More than 3 million people died of AIDS this year. U.S. President George W. Bush says the United States is determined to help shrink those numbers.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the United States, over a million of our citizens face this chronic condition. At the start of this century, AIDS causes suffering from remote villages of Africa to the heart of America's big cities. This danger has multiplied by indifference and complacency. This danger will be overcome by compassion, honesty, and decisive action.</s>CLANCY: Now, around the world, people are marking World AIDS Day with events to try to raise awareness. In India, the country only second to South Africa for the number of HIV cases, has volunteers taking their final steps on this, a three -- a year-long walk across the country. They covered more than 6,800 kilometers, ending up in New Delhi. China marking World AIDS Day with public awareness campaigns that are aimed at millions of migrant workers. Health officials visited construction sites across the country handing out condoms, as well as information packs.</s>MCEDWARDS: Well, Africa is the continent hardest hit by AIDS. And here are some statistics that may shock you. It has only 10 percent of the world's population, but more than half of all the people living with HIV. And that is a total of 25.8 million people out of about 40 million people who suffer from HIV worldwide. Perhaps one of the most staggering statistics is this. The U.N. estimates that one in every 14 African adults suffers from HIV. One in 14. The pandemic is also taking a huge toll on children. AIDS has left some 17 million on the African continent without any parents.</s>CLANCY: We focus in on Africa because that is where the problem, as Colleen described it, is the worst. Now, there's a new study in the "New England Journal of Medicine" that says this. AIDS medication triples -- triples -- the survival rate of even the poorest and the sickest patients. Now, our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta traveled to Rwanda, where doctors have pioneered a new drug therapy and taken that to Africa.</s>GUPTA (voice over): This is a meeting of the local AIDS association, Francuabu (ph) District, eastern Rwanda.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Let me tell you, AIDS, I know you. I can fight you. I can fight you because I know you. Some of my sisters and brothers died because of</s>AIDS. GUPTA: About one Rwandan in 10 is infected with the HIV virus. Sadly, in Sub-Saharan Africa, that's par for the course. (on camera): How many people had a full meal today?</s>GUPTA: How many people know somebody who's died of HIV? Wow. Everybody. Just about every single person. (voice over): But here, in the most unlikely of places, is a kind of oasis, what amounts to a first-rate hospital in a Third World environment. It's run by the Boston-based group Partners in Health.</s>DR. MICHAEL RICH, PARTNERS IN HEALTH: This is almost the same conditions as Haiti. So it's very, very similar.</s>GUPTA: In Haiti, Partners in Health proved patients in poor countries would stick to a treatment regimen -- that if medication was available, patients could get better if they also got nourishment. You see, without food, the medicine won't work. Here, every AIDS patient and their family gets at least a six-month food supply.</s>RICH: A lot of organizations are going in and starting up HIV programs, and they're being very specific that they're treating HIV, but they're not addressing some of the other problems. And we have the complete opposite philosophy, that we can't just go in and say, you know, sorry, you don't have HIV, we can't help you.</s>GUPTA (on camera): When we first arrived here, the 10-foot brush outside had been cleared. But there was still a lot of work to do. The hospital had only been half rebuilt. They'd still need an operating room and lots of medical supplies. This room could be a patient ward, but they need fresh paint, new windows, and at least 15 to 20 beds. (voice over): At least the pharmacy was stocked, and there was no shortage of patients. The project was made possible with money from Rwanda's government and with help from the Clinton Foundation, which brokered a deal that lowered the cost of AIDS-fighting medicine from around $10,000 a year per patient to less than 500. But money alone can't buy hope. It takes political will, hard work, and in eastern Rwanda, a bicycle. Jean Claude (ph) is a volunteer. He rides through the countryside visiting the same two patients day after day, delivering AIDS medication, making sure they take it, asking about their health. One of Jean Claude's charges is John Kanangwe (ph). Before the new hospital was built, he spent his small life savings on doctors, who could offer little in the way of help. Now on antiviral medication, he's getting stronger. (on camera): What would have happened if you didn't get the medicine?</s>JOHN KANANGWE, AIDS PATIENT (through translator): I would have died.</s>GUPTA: Like Kanangwe, his community is slowly but surely coming back to life. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, in Rwanda.</s>MCEDWARDS: The worldwide AIDS pandemic is the subject of our question of the day today.</s>CLANCY: That's right. We are asking this simple question. Is there more hope today for people living with AIDS than there was five years ago? E-mail us your thoughts. Keep them brief, and send them to us by email at YWT@CNN.com. And as always, don't forget to include your name.</s>MCEDWARDS: And let us know where you are writing from as well. We'll get some of them on the air.</s>CLANCY: All right.</s>MCEDWARDS: All right. Now to the battle for the hearts and minds of the American public. A day after the White House launched a fresh offensive in the public opinion battle over the Iraq war, a new poll shows the president's remarks about his strategy for victory in Iraq met with a lot of skepticism. Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll, joins us now. And Frank, we make a lot of this in the media, of course. The editorial pages are full of it today. But was the average American really watching here?</s>FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GALLUP POLL: No, they were not, Colleen. And I think that's a very important point. It shows how difficult it is for an American president to affect public opinion with just a speech, particularly one that was done in the middle of the day, wasn't in primetime, and so on and so forth. Here's what we found last night. Two-thirds -- 66 percent -- of Americans said not only had they not seen the speech live, they really had not heard, seen or read anything about the speech as of last night. Only 10 percent, typically Republicans, saw it live. And another 24 percent saw some coverage of it on the news, but a lot of Americans simply were not aware of the particulars of the speech at all. Now, with that said, I can say the poll last night showed structurally there's some good news and bad news for the president. This is some good news. This, I don't think, was a result of the speech, but shows the preexisting attitudes that Americans tend to agree that U.S. troops should be withdrawn from Iraq only when goals are achieved, not following a timetable. That's one of his major points last night. On the other hand, a little more bad news for President Bush. Over half of Americans -- 55 percent -- say he does not have a clear plan for victory in Iraq. And we don't think the speech last night, at least from what we can tell, is really changing those perceptions.</s>MCEDWARDS: So is there any optimism? I mean, do you get a sense that people are optimistic that there could be a victory?</s>NEWPORT: Well, the president had three parts to his speech. He said these are what would need to be done before the U.S. could really say it was a victory and withdrawal all troops. So we asked the American public, how likely is it that these things are going to happen? And not a lot of optimism. Less than half -- 47 percent -- of Americans, say that in the next few years Iraq will have a democracy, say, from overthrow. A little lower percent -- 44 percent -- agreed with the president's second point that there will be an effective police or military presence without U.S. assistance in Iraq. And finally, only a third of Americans say in the next few years Iraq will be able to keep terrorists from setting up their bases. In fact, a very small percent, less than 20 percent, agree with all three of these. So at least at this point, Colleen, in answer to your question, the data from last night show that a lot of Americans simply are skeptical that those goals the president outlined will actually be met, even in the next several years, in Iraq.</s>MCEDWARDS: Skeptical, indeed. Frank Newport, thanks a lot for bringing it all to us. Appreciate it, Frank. Jim?</s>CLANCY: Well, one opinion that really counts, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He says military and civilian defense personnel could be doing a better job of spreading the word about the progress that is being made in Iraq -- his examples, some of the advances. General Peter Pace cited the upcoming election, increasing business opportunities, and the nearly 300,000 Iraqis who have had at least some security force training. He agrees with the commander in chief. He says there's no option but victory.</s>GEN. PETER PACE, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Failure is not an option. There is no way that we can lose if we maintain our patience and our will, our resolve. But it's also true that inside of that patience and resolve we should execute our mission as smartly as we possibly can.</s>CLANCY: That was the general speaking earlier to students at the National Defense University. That's at Fort McNair in Washington. The White House is going to carry on its campaign to convince the American public it has a plan that will work and will bring victory in Iraq.</s>MCEDWARDS: All right. We are going to change gears a little bit here. When we return, we're going to go back to more on World AIDS Days.</s>CLANCY: That's right. How is it affecting the lives of children? And what's being done to address their needs? We'll have a guest and talk about the challenges of children living with AIDS.