Former President Barack Obama has some good news at a time when the world seems bleak and cynical to many people browsing social media and the news.
In a taped speech aired on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Mr Obama encouraged people to participate in World AIDS Day, and said that the fight against the deadly virus has seen some remarkable advances because of the tenacity and drive of people who want to make the world a better place.
“When it comes to the fight against HIV/AIDS, there's some genuinely good news to share,” Mr Obama said. “For the first time in history, more than half of all people living with the virus are on life-saving medication.”
The filmed segment was a call to arms for people to come together to fight against the virus. The world seems like a cynical place, Mr Obama acknowledged, but encouraged people to remember that advances in AIDs therapy — the number of deaths has been cut in half from the peak of the epidemic, and 20 million people are now on life-saving drugs — were the product of hard work.
“It sounds like a miracle, but it's not the result of mysterious forces or chance. It happened because countless people working for years chose to make this process,” Mr Obama said.
Some of those (like Kimmel, or Bono, who is a prominent anti-AIDS activist) wield their influence, or their money, to help the cause. But others have been effective without that type of sway.
“But far more were simply citizens,“ Obama said, before listing the many people who have fought the disease and the ”courageous people living with HIV who led the fight to spare others the anguish of this disease.”
Finishing off, the former President added some levity — offering to let donors pilot Air Force One, or to give them a peek at top-secret files on aliens — before returning to a common theme for the community organizer turned powerful politician.
“You can help us win this fight. You can help us change lives and write a future full of progress and hope, so let's all get to work,” Mr Obama said.
