Read More About GBC Members' Action on World AIDS Day
GBC and Member Companies Raise Awareness of Business Action on AIDS
World AIDS Day Events Highlight Private Sector Contributions
Kenyan CEO’s Get Tested to Raise Awareness
Working with the Kenyan government’s national testing campaign, GBC and its private sector partners hosted a CEO public testing event on Monday, November 26th, leveraging the private sector’s power and influence in order to reinforce the message that knowing one’s HIV status is empowering.
As part of this year’s World AIDS Day commemoration, the government of Kenya planned a national testing campaign to promote the acceleration of counseling and testing uptake, aiming to test 100,000 Kenyans during this week leading up to December 1st. According to the National AIDS Control Council, only 2 million of Kenya’s 35 million people have been tested.
The event was widely covered in the Kenyan media. GBC Vice President and Regional Director for East and Central Africa Patricia Mugambi also appeared on one TV station’s breakfast talk show to discuss the business response to HIV/AIDS. Additionally, a number of GBC member company CEO’s appeared in Kenyan television programs, newspapers and magazines to discuss the business response to AIDS, including the CEO of Shell Kenya.
'Know Your Status' posters with the name and pictures of the CEOs are being created and will eventually be displayed in workplaces and at VCT centers in order to promote a culture of testing and awareness.
A number of companies in Kenya – both GBC members and non-GBC members – carried out HIV/AIDS activities throughout the week, including providing counseling and testing in their workplaces.
Calypte Donates HIV Tests to Kenya
Calypte Biomedical Corporation put its core competencies to use this World AIDS Day, donating 4,000 of its Aware™ oral fluid tests to Kenya for the country’s National Testing Week. In addition to the tests, Calypte also donated 4,000 “I am Aware” bracelets that were distributed to anyone who was tested and learned of their HIV status.
The Aware™ bracelets campaign has been designed to stimulate interest in testing and Calypte plans to maintain it in the foreseeable future, potentially reaching out to millions of people through expanded testing programs.
Calypte partnered with Ultralab & Allied Services Ltd, its local distributor in Kenya in developing, funding and implementing this initiative. Representatives from Calypte also attended World AIDS Day commemoration ceremonies in Kenya.
Levi’s Takes on HIV/AIDS with Global Platform
Commemorating World AIDS Day in a truly global manner this year, Levi Strauss & CO launched campaigns and coordinated events throughout its regional offices on four continents.
In San Francisco, the company’s newly formed HIV/AIDS Treatment and Care Program worked with the AIDS Action Group (AAG) Community Involvement Team to launch a week-long effort to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS issues in the plaza outside its headquarters. A portion of the AIDS Quilt including a panel made by employees was also put on display along with presentations the remembered those in the Levi’s community who have succumbed to the virus.
An exclusive World Aids Day t-shirt was made available in Levi's stores across 19 European countries, with all proceeds being donated to leading HIV organizations throughout Europe. In addition, through a partnership with Durex--a subsidiary of GBC Member SSL International plc--a Levi’s branded condom is being distributed in Levi’s stores with every purchase.
Levi Strauss Japan teamed up with the Japanese Foundation for AIDS Prevention and other corporate entities to sponsor a charity music concert, Stop AIDS, Love to Live 2007, to raise awareness and encourage prevention of HIV/AIDS among youth in Tokyo. The November 28th concert featured several well-known Japanese musicians who played to an audience of more than 1,000 young people, with brief presentations on HIV/AIDS interspersed throughout.
In South Africa, where the company launched its third annual Red for Life Initiative in conjunction with World AIDS Day, Levi’s held Rage for The Revolution, a live music concert, on November 10th. The company also partnered with New Start, an HIV testing service program, to focus its efforts on encouraging people to get tested and know their status, also aiming to distribute over 200,000 Levi’s branded condoms. On December 1st, Levi’s Red for Life campaign launched its 2nd clothing line, from which a portion of the proceeds will go towards funding further Levi's Red for Life initiatives.
Ending AIDS: Why the World Can’t Wait and What You Can Do
Building momentum in the fight against AIDS will depend in part on engaging the private sector in sustainable initiatives that involve local communities. This and other forward-looking solutions to the AIDS epidemic were the focus of a World AIDS Day panel discussion hosted by GBC, NYU Center for Global Affairs and Vital Voices Global Partnership.
GBC President and CEO Richard Holbrooke guided a high-level discussion with panelists Georgia Arnold, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, MTV Networks International; Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator; Laurie Garrett, Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations; Nancy Mahon, Executive Director, MAC AIDS Fund; Dr. Michael Rabbow, HIV Policy & Public Affairs, CD Communications, Boehringer Ingelheim and Dr. Suniti Solomon, Founder-Director, Y.R. Gaitonde Center for AIDS Research and Education. The panelists demonstrated not only the importance of a business response to HIV/AIDS, but the myriad ways companies can put their expertise to work in this global endeavor.
Recalling the reduced UNAIDS statistics on HIV/AIDS rates in India and some sub-Saharan African nations as well as the expected increase in rates in the United States Ambassador Holbrooke said, “Don’t believe the word ‘progress’ until it’s real, and when it’s real, you’ll know where it is.”
Georgia Arnold offered MTV’s experience with HIV/AIDS, explaining that business is primed to enter this battle using their core competencies. Arnold noted that although the search for an HIV-vaccine remains elusive, “the only vaccine that we have in our hands is education. From MTV’s point of view, we reach millions of young people around the world every day so we’re able to use that and get information out to our audience.”
Dr. Michael Rabbow described the role of the pharmaceutical industry in the fight against HIV/AIDS saying, “The challenge probably is not so much to have the drugs available but to have them affordable at a low price, and this means that the research and development-based companies who had brought down their price in the year 2000 have gone a step further by licensing them out to generic producers.” Dr. Rabbow noted that some innovator companies now have lower prices then their generic competitors.
Dr. Suniti Solomon suggested donors provide resources on a longer-term basis, perhaps setting up programs on a 10-year platform, so that infrastructure hindrances could truly be addressed and treatment, care and prevention efforts become sustainable after the donors leave, ensuring that patients will still have access to necessary resources.
Laurie Garrett outlined the remaining obstacles facing governments, NGOs and other stakeholders challenging panelists and audience members to consider, “How can we take contribution and support from the wealthy world and turn it into permanent transformation of the health system so that it becomes a dignified, self-reliant, self-supporting and culturally self-controlled and dictated health delivery and public health system?”
BBC World Service Trust Utilizes Core Competencies in Indian Media Campaign
The new contest uses public service advertisements on TV and radio and in cinemas, as well as at focused areas of activity, such as beaches and shopping malls, and includes a video van activity targeting rural areas. The campaign targets men aged 15-59 and will run over the course of two years in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
The BBC Asian Network and BBC local radio programming, covering 13 Asian radio stations, featured interviews with Radhrani Mitra, the creative director of the campaign, on the rising levels of HIV/AIDS in India.
According to the BBC World Service Trust website, the campaign’s slogan, 'Jo Bola Wohi Sikander' ('those who talk are winners'), aims to encourage people to talk about HIV and AIDS prevention, emphasizing that the real winners are those who communicate about such issues.
Yvonne MacPherson, Trust country director for India said, “The strength of the creative idea behind this campaign is that instead of an advert that tells people to talk about sexual health, it actually stimulates people to talk.
“We believe the riddle posed in the advertisements is sufficiently enticing and tricky that men will have to talk about it with their friends in order to arrive at the answer.”
Elsewhere around the world, BBC World Service Trust World AIDS Day initiatives included: a BBC World Service ‘Africa Have Your Say’ radio debate exploring how HIV/AIDS is threatening education in Africa; an Angolan multi-media campaign entitled ‘Against HIV/AIDS, we stand together’; ‘Wetin Day’, a ground-breaking TV drama series about the realities of living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, written and produced by Nigerians under the umbrella of the Trust; and a Kenyan youth radio series broadcast on the BBC Swahili service with Kenyan broadcast partners.
The BBC World Service Trust is an independent registered charity of the BBC. The Trust is a world leader in the use of media and communications to reduce poverty and promote human rights.
Leaders Mobilized in Walk on Great Wall
In commemoration of World AIDS Day 2007, business leaders, members of the public and celebrities took part in a “Great AIDS Walk” at the Great Wall on Sunday, December 2nd, to raise awareness about HIV in China, mobilize leaders from various sectors on AIDS and generate funds to support people living with HIV in China.
The four-kilometer walk at Juyongguan Great Wall was jointly organized by UNAIDS and China Red Cross Foundation with the support of GBC. More than 2,000 people from various organizations attended the events, including those from the Chinese Ministry of Health, UN agencies, the private sector, NGOs and grassroots organizations, as well as PLWHAs.
GBC member companies Anglo American, Standard Chartered Bank, Bayer and L’Oréal attended the launch ceremony at the Great Wall, set up a booth to showcase their HIV/AIDS actions and donated funds to support HIV/AIDS efforts in China.
The launch ceremony was chaired by Mr. Wang Rupeng, president of China Red Cross. During his speech, he gave special thanks to GBC and member companies as the main supporters of the event and highlighted GBC’s role in mobilizing the private sector against HIV/AIDS.
Through its support for this event, GBC displayed its commitment as a leader in the private sector’s fight against HIV/AIDS and reinforced its working relationship with Chinese government and UN agencies and the China Red Cross.
L’Oréal Engages Hairdressers to Fight AIDS in China
More than 400 hairdressers joined thousands of people who walked along the Great Wall on World AIDS Day, to raise awareness of and funding for HIV/AIDS efforts across China.
L’Oréal’s “Hairdressers of the World against AIDS” program was launched in September 2006 in China, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health, UNESCO and UNAIDS. All three brands under L’Oréal China’s Professional Products Division have organized HIV/AIDS educational sessions in their 35 training centers nation wide. Around 20,000 Chinese hairdressers have been involved in these training sessions.
“L’Oréal has a standing commitment to helping local populations in the countries in which we operate,” said Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, President of the Board of Directors of L’Oréal. “The Hairdressers of the World Against AIDS is today one of our most prized programs as it allows us to mobilize hairdressers from our professional salons network throughout the world and utilize our training know-how to support HIV/AIDS prevention globally.”
GSK Promotes Positive Action Program Internally
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) marked World AIDS Day this year by working to educate its employees about the company’s Positive Action program, one of the longest running, industry-led HIV/AIDS community support programs. Since its inception in 1992, Positive Action has worked with community partners in over 35 countries on projects covering HIV awareness, education, stigma reduction, prevention, care and treatment.
Positive Action videos, displays, posters, PowerPoint presentations and other educational materials were distributed at 35 GSK sites for use in employee education. GSK also established Positive Action ambassadors to promote the value of the program by showing the impact being made in communities affected by AIDS.
At the company’s London headquarters, home to 3,000 employees, a large display area was devoted to HIV/AIDS educational materials and a partner from Positive Action’s Kenya addressed employees on the initiative’s impact in East Africa.
Positive Action continues to partner with a number of organizations around the globe, including: amfAR’s TREAT Asia program; the International HIV/AIDS Alliance; Colectivo Sol in Mexico; Freedom from Hunger in India; the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF); the Network for the Empowerment of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK); and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) in Kenya.
GM Promotes AIDS Prevention among University Students in China
In advance of World AIDS Day, hundreds of university students from China’s capital assembled at the Peking University Health Science Center to participate in a discussion on the prevention of AIDS and the promotion of physical and mental health. The activity was organized by General Motors, GBC and the World Health Organization.
The event was part of a series of activities at several Beijing universities centered on the theme “Building Campuses in Harmony with Friendship and Health.” Participants in the discussion signed their names on banners, pledged to pay special attention to AIDS prevention, and agreed to support AIDS awareness at their schools.
GM continues to actively support AIDS prevention efforts around the world, and to work closely with government institutions, professional groups and NGOs in China.
GBC Trains Journalists on HIV/AIDS Reporting
GBC in partnership with Reuters Foundation, hosted a roundtable to discuss the feminization of HIV/AIDS and what it takes to stem the spread of the epidemic among women and girls on Tuesday, November 27th, in New York.
A group of 15 international journalists from five continents attended as part of a week-long training and awareness-raising program sponsored by the Reuters Foundation.
Along with workshops, field trips and seminars, the roundtable helped provide these journalists with the information and skills needed to provide accurate and objective reporting on HIV/AIDS, a critical component of effective global awareness and prevention.
At the end of the week, the journalists also visited the National Basketball Association, a member of GBC. NBA Senior Vice President Kathy Behrens and WNBA all-star Ruth Riley briefed the journalists on HIV/AIDS education and awareness aspects of the league’s “Basketball Without Borders” and “NBA Cares” programs, which are conducted around the world.
BD Mobilizes Workforce, Raises Funds for AIDS Quilt
Becton, Dickinson and Company leveraged World AIDS Day to educate its 28,000 associates worldwide about HIV/AIDS and how the company is addressing the deadly pandemic through its people, products, partners and philanthropy.
The company’s corporate headquarters in Franklin Lakes, NJ and its BD Biosciences offices in San Jose, CA each displayed sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt for associates.
In BD’s corporate headquarters, associates were encouraged to wear red and take a quiz about the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Those who submitted completed quizzes were entered into a raffle for (PRODUCT) RED items including a (RED) iPod Shuffle and iTunes gift cards. For each quiz completed, BD donated $5 to the AIDS Memorial Quilt – though that amount was doubled to $10 if the associate submitting the quiz was wearing red. In total, BD donated $5,000 as a result of its associates’ efforts.
Micato Safaris Takes HIV/AIDS Message to Nairobi Slum
Micato Safaris and its non-profit foundation AmericaShare, spread awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care this World AIDS Day at the Mukuru slum in Nairobi, Kenya. The company partnered with two educators living with HIV to provide a two-part lecture series along with a nutritious lunch to attendees.
The first lecture provided a basic lesson on understanding HIV/AIDS, while the second lecture focused on prevention, treatment and care for those aged 12 and older, and included a question and answer session with the audience. Information regarding resources available in the community was also presented. The educators represented Population Services International (PSI) and Bremgor Services.
Among the lecture attendees were over 300 orphaned and vulnerable children and 10 adults from Micato Safaris and AmericaShare’s MWECHI women’s group, the community church and the local athletics club.
New Guidelines Highlight Workplace Policies in South Africa
GBC Southern Africa office hosted a business breakfast for members on November 29th, launching new guidelines on dealing with stigma in the workplace and discussing the future of PEPFAR partnerships.
GBC’s latest guidelines on stigma establish an actionable framework for workplace policies worldwide, helping companies to efficiently address the damaging effect of AIDS shame and fear at work and in the community.
US Ambassador to South Africa, Ambassador Eric M Bost, delivered the keynote address on "PEPFAR: The Power of Partnerships." US Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who co-authored legislation creating PEPFAR in 2003, discussed the reauthorization of PEPFAR currently being considered in congress. US Congresswoman Donna M Christensen delivered the closing remarks.
Sixty GBC members attended the breakfast, including SABCOHA CEO Brad Mears, SABCOHA board members and South African government representatives.
Total Focuses Efforts on Internal AIDS Awareness, Non-Discrimination
Total focused its World AIDS Day efforts on internal education, prevention and non-discrimination, providing its employees in China with HIV/AIDS prevention booklets and red ribbons to promote awareness, and releasing a sample of the Total HIV/AIDS workplace policy.
The information and prevention booklets, which were published in both English and Chinese, were prepared in coordination with the Beijing Municipal Council’s AIDS Working Committee. 150,000 copies have also been distributed to hotels and universities in the region.
The integrated oil and gas company also released a sample of its HIV/AIDS workplace policy in order to promote non-discrimination and reduce AIDS stigma amongst its more than 4,000 employees in China.
Total’s internal campaign included e-mail teasers that were sent to its staff in China before World AIDS Day, asking them to consider the latest reports about the AIDS epidemic in China and to evaluate their knowledge on HIV/AIDS issues. Red ribbons that were later distributed to Total staff were made by people living with HIV in Guizhou Province.
A survey will be conducted in the first quarter of 2008 in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in raising general employee awareness in China.
Travel and Tourism Guidelines Provide Direction in Industry Response
Because it employs nearly 10% of the global workforce and reaches upwards of 850 million customers annually, the travel and tourism industry – through its broad reach and various core competencies – is uniquely positioned to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDS.
In response, GBC has developed a set of guidelines for travel and tourism businesses, which were released Thursday, November 29th in order to bring industry attention, and galvanize a response to HIV/AIDS.
The guidebook is the result of collaboration with leading travel and tourism companies including Accor, Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, Kerzner International, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Grupo Visabeira, American Express, Micato Safaris, Thanda Gaming Resort, AIG Travel Guard, and the Virgin Group.
» Read the Travel and Tourism Best Practices Guidebook (PDF)
AIG Reaches out to Local Communities in Wisconsin
AIG Travel Guard partnered with the Stevens Point YMCA and the HIV/AIDS Ministry Project of Catholic Charities to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS within their community on World AIDS Day.
AIG Travel Guard also worked on internal mobilization, sending its employees trivia questions on World AIDS Day to test their knowledge on HIV/AIDS related topics like contraction, prevention, awareness and common myths.
Russian Magazine Survey Finds Women Want to Know More About HIV/AIDS
The results of a recent survey of women on HIV/AIDS conducted by Cosmopolitan magazine and the Russian Media Partnership were released in Moscow Friday, ahead of World AIDS Day.
The survey, in which 1,053 women were asked about HIV/AIDS last June, found that the majority of respondents wanted to know more about HIV prevention methods and saw knowledge of such information as the best form of prevention.
GBC Rallies Canadian Business, Welcomes Financial Institution CIBC as Newest Member
GBC and its corporate members encouraged private sector engagement in Canada ahead of World AIDS Day by opening the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday, November 30th.
The event, which featured remarks by GBC Senior Vice President of Global Programs and Partnerships Joelle Tanguy, helped to raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic in Canada and abroad and ways in which the Canadian business community can be leaders in the fight.
Event Brings Together GBC, UN Leadership to Reflect on AIDS
The event featured remarks on the state of the fight against AIDS by GBC President and CEO Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
The evening was moderated by CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien and also featured celebratory musical performances by Grammy Award-winning pianist Angelin Chang and a number of local dance troupes.
British American Tobacco Subsidiary Trains Stakeholders on HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies
Solomon Islands Tobacco Co. Ltd (SITCO), a subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT), hosted a workplace HIV/AIDS conference the week leading up to World AIDS Day, in collaboration with BAT Papua New Guinea.
The conference aimed to empower stakeholders from the Solomon Islands by educating them on the various aspects of HIV/AIDS, including the impact it has on the workplace and broader community.
Coordinators of the conference worked with the 28 participating external stakeholders from other businesses based in the Solomon Islands, to enable them to form workplace policies in their respective companies. In addition to the external stakeholders, 400 employees and their spouses attended the conference to learn more about HIV/AIDS issues and what businesses are doing to stem the spread of the disease.
Ukrainian Private Sector Raises AIDS Awareness, Funds
To attract attention to the AIDS problem and convey the message that AIDS affects everyone, GBC coordinated a four-hour telethon on Ukraine’s Channel 5 on Saturday, December 1st.
The StopAIDS Telethon featured political and business leaders, artists, people living with AIDS, human rights groups and NGOs, all of whom discussed the major problems hampering the effort to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The telethon was implemented in partnership with the Petro Poroshenko Foundation, the Liliya Podkopayeva Healthy Generations Foundation and the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH.
Later Saturday evening, the Palace of Ukraine played host to a GBC co-coordinated gala/concert featuring the message “Keep LIVING!” The concert helped to attract attention to the AIDS epidemic in Ukraine and promote tolerant attitudes towards people living with HIV.
The event featured Ukrainian celebrities such as Ani Lorak, Olexander Ponamaryov, Tina Karol, EL Kravchuk, Viktor Pavlik, Vitaliy Kozlovskiy, Gaytana, Katya Chily and S.K.A.I.
Throughout the weekend, GBC also helped coordinate the Youth Art against AIDS Fair, where adults and children took part in workshops on beading, glass-painting and traditional paper-cutting.
All funds raised during the charity auction will be used to help HIV-positive children. The event, which was coordinated with the ICF “International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine”, the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH, the Belgian Embassy and Shell, was held in Kyiv’s Lavra Gallery and featured the slogan: “Give Your Care to Those Who Need it most”.
Expert Panel Discusses Action on AIDS
Actionable ideas took center stage Tuesday as private sector and civil society leaders gathered at NYU to discuss the imperative of ending AIDS.
Hosted by GBC, NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, and the Vital Voices Partnership, “Ending AIDS: Why the World Can’t Wait” gathered a myriad of experts, including GBC President and CEO Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Mark Dybul.
GBC member company representatives also joined in the discussion, including: Georgia Arnold, Vice President, Public Affairs for MTV Networks International; Nancy Mahon, Executive Director of the MAC AIDS Fund; and Dr. Michael Rabbow, HIV Policy and Public Affairs, CD Communications for Boehringer Ingelheim.
Shell Educates Global Staff on HIV/AIDS
Royal Dutch Shell focused its efforts this World AIDS Day on increasing awareness internally of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the company’s efforts to stem its spread, identifying the disease as an issue that affects all Shell employees. A number of events and education campaigns were undertaken during the week leading up to December 1st, centering on the theme of leadership.
A toolkit was developed to help each Shell office raise awareness within its own community. The toolkit included a draft email for the Country Chair, articles and posters addressing HIV/AIDS, quotes from senior Shell leaders and Shell employees living with HIV/AIDS, presentation materials and suggestions to raise local awareness.
In addition, Shell also set up an online, multiple-choice, interactive quiz that was developed as a learning module to help Shell employee’s learn more about HIV/AIDS. Employees were encouraged to take the quiz, which was available on Shell’s internal website.
Shell also produced a video that documented Shell’s various HIV/AIDS programs in Russia, Nigeria, South Africa and Pakistan, and made it available to all employees. The video demonstrated Shell’s education and peer training actions, which have targeted employees, contractors (like long haul truck drivers and retail workers), and youth from the communities in which Shell works.
A wide range of local activities took place in Shell’s country offices: VCT drives; awareness sessions for staff (including addresses by people living with HIV and theatrical presentations); lunch and learn discussions; distribution of condoms, brochures and red ribbons; and collecting money for HIV/AIDS charities. In some countries, activities were also organized to target employee dependants, Shell contractors and the broader community.
Russian Exhibition Delivers Message that AIDS Affects Everyone
On November 30th, GBC and the Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS =opened the groundbreaking multimedia AIDS exhibition “Affects Me. Affects Every One.” at the Tyumen Museum of Fine Arts in the Tyumen region of Russia.
The event, which will run through December 24, 2007, was sponsored by the Russian Media Partnership to Combat HIV/AIDS (RMP) and is a part of the broader public awareness campaign StopSPID (StopAIDS).
StopAIDS aims to help change public attitudes towards HIV/AIDS and foster tolerance towards people living with HIV. The exhibition materials are a part of the RMP, which unites more than 40 competing media companies in a coordinated campaign under one brand, utilizing print and outdoor media, television, radio, cinemas, and the internet to deliver its anti-AIDS message.
The exhibition was co-organized by the Community of People Living with HIV and the Objective Reality Foundation.
Russian Journalists Trained on HIV/AIDS Issues
More than 60 journalists and representatives of Russian government and non-government AIDS organizations came together ahead of World AIDS day in a GBC training intended to improve the quality and frequency of reporting on HIV/AIDS issues.
The two day training entitled, “On the Frontline of the Epidemic: Reporting on HIV/AIDS,” was coordinated by Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS.
Public health and journalism experts addressed the training’s participants to provide a thorough review of the status of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia and worldwide. Key issues addressed during the training included: the influence that HIV/AIDS is having on modern society; common misconceptions about access to HIV/AIDS treatment and therapy; the important role of mass media in covering the HIV/AIDS; problems encountered in HIV prevention efforts; and stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV.
A special session was held on the role of business in the fight against HIV/AIDS, where representatives from international companies discussed the imperative of private sector engagement against the disease and their successes in implementing workplace HIV/AIDS programs.
The training was held with financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Open Health Institute (OHI), with assistance from Johnson & Johnson, the Kaiser Family Foundation and GlaxoSmithKline.