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"What's Next?"

The Ethiopian government Friday urged its people to step up their efforts in the fight against the spread of AIDS, saying the disease was spreading at an alarming rate in the Horn of Africa country.

"The pandemic was discovered not long ago, but the rate at which it is spreading is alarming and a matter of concern," the information ministtry said in a statement.

An estimated three million Ethiopians are infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS, according to figures from UNAIDS from the year 2000. More than a million have died of the disease since it was first reported in the country in 1987.

Up to 7.3 percent of Ethiopia's adult population are estimated to be HIV-positive. Almost a million children in the Horn of Africa country are AIDS orphans.

Up to 7.3 percent of Ethiopia's adult population are estimated to be HIV-positive. Almost a million children in the Horn of Africa country are AIDS orphans.

I don't disagree that the spread of AIDS is alarming and a world tragedy. However, you're not likely to catch AIDS while innocently vacationing on a cruise ship or riding the subway to work UNLESS you participate in unprotected sex, submit to a transfusion, or you're on the receiving end of an infectious sneeze. I think you understand what I'm saying here. AIDS is in a league of it's own. It's like comparing smallpox with syphilis.