NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS WORLD AIDS DAY OBSERVANCE TO BE HELD AT UN HEADQUARTERS

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS WORLD AIDS DAY OBSERVANCE TO BE HELD AT UN HEADQUARTERS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Department of Public Information (DPI) will co-sponsor a panel discussion at Headquarters on 1 December in observance of World AIDS Day. Following the discussion, Metropolitan Opera artists will give a special concert organized by the Ambassadors of Opera and Concert Worldwide, Ltd.

The programme, to be held in the Economic and Social Council Chamber from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., will open with a statement by General Assembly President Diogo Freitas do Amaral (Portugal), and a videotaped message from United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Panelists include Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS; Noerine Kaleeba, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), Uganda; Stephen Lewis, Deputy Executive Director of External Relations for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Eric Sawyer, co-founder of Housing Works, a non- profit organization that provides housing and support services to homeless people with HIV/AIDS; and Nicholas Keene, whose father, New York City Opera conductor Christopher Keene, recently died of AIDS.

The one-hour concert will feature Metropolitan Opera artists Teresa Stratas, Catherine Kelly, Hallie Neill, Joann Grillo, Franco Bonanome, Richard Kness, Theodore Lambrinos, Stefano Palatchi and Edward Russell performing selected songs from well-known operas. The concert is co-sponsored by Gulf Air.

UNAIDS is a joint programme of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. Its purpose is to strengthen and streamline action by the United Nations in support of national responses to HIV/AIDS, particularly in areas of policy development and research, technical support, and advocacy.

The theme for this year's AIDS Day observance, "Shared rights, shared responsibilities", was chosen in recognition of 1995 as the United Nations International Year of Tolerance. The co-sponsors hope this will highlight the need for all people -- whether or not they are infected with HIV -- to protect the rights of those infected and accept responsibility for prevention and care if AIDS is to be confronted successfully.

- 2 - Press Release Note No. 5313 29 November 1995

The WHO estimates that 18 million adults and 1.5 million children have been infected with HIV since the beginning of the pandemic. By the end of the century, 30 to 40 million men, women and children will have been infected and 5 to 10 million children will have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

For more information, contact Graciela Hall at (212) 963-6923. For media accreditation, call Sonia Lecca at (212) 963-6934. For United Nations television coverage, call Jim Ludlam at (212) 963-7650.

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