In a speech yesterday to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, former President Bill Clinton warned that Africa's promising future could be destroyed by AIDS, and he said the United States should do more to supply medicine to the continent and to promote vaccine development. Without major efforts to fight the disease, which he called "the biggest killer since the Black Plague," some countries could lose much of their productive, middle-age populations, Clinton said. Costly drugs are key to keeping millions of AIDS patients alive and to combating the epidemic through testing and treatment: People will not submit to testing only to be told, "You got it; you die," he said. At a time when the Bush administration is seeking tens of billions more for the military and homeland defense, fighting AIDS needs to be seen as "part of our defense," because its rapid spread overseas might result in more Americans becoming infected, Clinton said.

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