Could an AIDS-free generation be coming? Charlize Theron seems to think so.
"We're looking at our first AIDS-free generation being born in 2015," Theron told Top Line. "We can't stop now."
While she may be mostly known as an Academy Award-winning actress, Theron is also active in the fight against AIDS. South Africa, Theron's home country, has a ten percent rate of the disease. Theron runs an AIDS support program for youth from the country and claims that the U.S. could be doing more to monetarily support efforts abroad.
"A lot of Americans have this misperception that foreign aid is around 25 percent, which it's not. It's less than 1 percent," Theron said.
The actress recently stopped by Capitol Hill in an effort to garner support for the cause. She was accompanied by Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé, who praised U.S. efforts in supporting AIDS reduction.
"The taxpayer's money is producing results, starting with the commitment of President Bush, bringing the emergency plan, showing that we can really save lives of people when no one was having any hope," Sidibé said. "It was $15,000 per person per year. Today we have 8 million people on treatment. We save millions of lives."
Meanwhile, Theron has offered to serve as President Barack Obama's tour guide of South Africa.
"This hope will only become a reality if we continue to stand strong and together in solidarity, settling for nothing less than the ending of this epidemic," Theron said at a Capitol Hill event in April.
