People still think of [AIDS] as a shame-based disease … and so a lot of people are still very bigoted about this disease, and it’s our biggest opponent, trying to break these people down. It’s such a treatable disease … [and] the end is in sight … medically. But if we don’t go hand in hand with the stigma problem, along with the medical advancement, then we’re never going to defeat it … And the way we do that is to be more compassionate, more understanding, more loving towards each other. We have to change attitudes.

Elton John, on NPR’s Talk of the Nation. Read more and listen to the full interview here. (via npr)