UNITED NATIONS COMMEMORATES WORLD AIDS DAY ON 1 DECEMBER AT CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE

Note to Correspondents

UNITED NATIONS COMMEMORATES WORLD AIDS DAY ON 1 DECEMBER

AT CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE

International Stars, AIDS Advocates Join Largest World Aids Day Event in U.S.

Musicians, artists and speakers from around the world will take the stage at New York City’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Thursday, 1 December at 7:30 p.m. to commemorate World AIDS Day 2005.  Up to 2,000 people are expected to attend this unique gathering to honour progress made in the battle against AIDS, and to renew commitments made to tackle the epidemic.  The event is sponsored by the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), in collaboration with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the African Services Committee.

Celebrated artists and advocates will join people living with HIV, including:  co-hosts Julia Ormond, Mpule Kwelagobe and Rosie Perez; keynote speaker Jan Eliasson, President of the sixtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly; Marjorie B. Tiven, Commissioner of the New York City Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps and Protocol; and Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  Testimonials will be given by Joe Pressley, Eric Sawyer and Anita Bhattacharjee.  Celebrated performers, such as Roberta Flack, Bill T. Jones, Jessica Care Moore, Anthony Rapp, Salman Ahmad and Billy Porter, will round out the evening through song, dance and poetry.

This year’s theme for World AIDS Day, “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise”, highlights the need for everyone -- governments, organizations, communities and individuals -- to honour and renew commitments to reverse the AIDS epidemic.  People living with HIV will share their reflections on five years of increased awareness, engagement, and mobilization since the watershed Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS in 2001.

"The General Assembly will play its part next year when we convene a three-day meeting in May to recommit ourselves to the promises we made in the 2001 Declaration of Commitment”, said Mr. Eliasson.  “And we’ll be following up on the 2005 World Summit commitment to ‘developing and implementing a package for HIV prevention, treatment and care with the aim of coming as close as possible to the goal of universal access to treatment by 2010 for all those who need it’.  We need to ensure this commitment is turned into action."  

The AIDS Epidemic Update 2005, released by UNAIDS, the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the epidemic, notes that despite decreases in the rate of infection in certain countries, the overall number of people living with HIV has continued to increase in all regions of the world, except the Caribbean.  According to the Update, there were an additional 5 million new infections in 2005.  The number of people living with HIV globally has reached its highest level with an estimated 40.3 million people, up from an estimated 37.5 million in 2003.

"At its root, the battle against AIDS is a battle against ignorance and misinformation”, said Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations Department of Public Information.  In the 60 years since the founding of the United Nations, DPI has been the leader in global information activities to back efforts to eliminate disease and promote public health.  Mr. Tharoor added that “effective outreach, and a receptivity to ideas from an informed civil society, is the essential ingredient in any effective strategy to defeat HIV and AIDS”.  DPI's outreach programmes have been at the forefront in drawing the attention of people around the world to information about the United Nation's coordinated global response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

“In 2005, more than 3 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses, 500,000 of them children.  This is unacceptable”, said Thomas R. Frieden, Commissioner, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  “We have the tools today to help people living with HIV live long, healthy lives and to drastically reduce the spread of HIV.  Voluntary HIV screening and linkage to care, partner testing, condoms, clean needles, and effective care and treatment, can change the trajectory of the epidemic.  On World AIDS Day 2005, New York City re-commits to the promise of helping all living with HIV to live to their full potential, and to all not living with HIV to remain free of infection.”

Kim Nichols, Co-Executive Director, African Services Committee, a community-based organization in New York City, and the North American non-governmental organization delegate to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board said, "The burden of the global AIDS epidemic has fallen disproportionately on poor and vulnerable communities around the world.  African Services and scores of other civil society organizations around the world have risen to the challenge of providing community-based HIV prevention and care, and keeping the promise to stop AIDS."

This evening of music and reflection is free and open to the public. 

For additional information, please contact Vikram Sura, Associate Officer, Special Projects Unit, Outreach Division, Department of Public Information tel:  212 963 8274, e-mail:  sura@un.org; or Catharine Bufalino, Director of Communications, African Services Committee, tel:  212 222 3882 ext. 146.

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For information media • not an official record