Ambassador Perry's Speeches

AIDS Program (10 Dec 08)

Chief of Defense Staff, Major General Alfred Nelson Williams
Director, National AIDS Secretariat, Dr. Brima Kargbo
Director, Medical Services, Colonel (Dr.) A.R. Sankoh
Unit Commanders
Medical Officers
Peer Educators
Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you for that warm welcome.  On behalf of Ambassador Perry, I am pleased to join you today to mark World AIDS Day under the theme "Take the Lead, take the HIV test."  It is fitting that we mark this day with military professionals.  Living without testing for HIV is a threat: a threat to our friends, to our family, and to loved ones.  Soldiers understand threats; underlying the military profession is the notion that threats must be understood, and where possible, eliminated, to protect our societies.  Who better to take responsibility for controlling the threat posed by this horrible disease in Sierra Leone than the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces? 

The United States is working with you in Sierra Leone to take on the threat of  HIV/AIDS in many ways, and I wish to particularly commend the United States Department of Defense HIV AIDS Prevention Program which provides education, condoms, Antiretroviral Therapy, and confidential testing.

We are proud of the services we help provide, but these services are only as effective people that use them.  YOU must choose to get tested and, if necessary, treated. 

The decision to get tested is a difficult one.  One may not want the answer.  But it is an answer you must have, regardless of the outcome.  In this day and age, treatments and preventative measures are available. You can maintain a healthy lifestyle and protect the people you know and love. 

As military professionals, you have demonstrated your profound commitment to the welfare of Sierra Leone.  You have dedicated your lives to serve this country.  HIV threatens that country, and your families and your communities.  With testing, you will then know the tools needed to survive and overcome this disease and to keep it from spreading.  I urge you to take this step: get tested now, and get tested often.  As professionals dedicated to the countries we serve, we can do nothing less. 

On behalf of the President and people of the United States of America,

Thank you.