UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- President George Bush Tuesday appealed to the conscience of the world to fight diseases like AIDS, as well as human suffering caused by famine and slavery.
In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Bush noted the United States has pledged $15 billion to fight AIDS around the world over the next five years and provides $1.4 billion annually in global emergency food aid.
"Every nation on every continent should generously add their resources to the fight against disease and desperate hunger," Bush said.
Bush noted as many as 900,000 people are sold into slavery around the world annually -- some as young as 5 -- and forced to work in the sex trade.
"This commerce in human life generates billions of dollars each year -- much of which is used to finance organized crime," Bush said.
He added: "There is a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable. The victims of the sex trade see little of life before they see the very worst of life, an underworld of brutality and lonely fear. Those who create these victims, and profit from their suffering, must be severely punished.
"Those who patronize this industry debase themselves and deepen the misery of others. And governments that tolerate this trade are tolerating a form of slavery."
