National Portuguese Television Issues 'AIDS Alert' Ahead Of Heads Of State Summit

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 22 Jul 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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The Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) Heads of State's Summit will take place on 24 and 25 July. In order to highlight the issue of HIV during the Summit and to foster a new generation of leaders committed to the AIDS response, UNAIDS in partnership with the CPLP and National Portuguese Television (RTP) are holding a televised town hall on AIDS.

"Alerta Sida", "Aids Alert" will be broadcast on 23 July, the eve of the Summit, by RTP AFRICA and RTP International at 20:30 GMT.

University students from different CPLP countries will put a series of questions to a panel of experts representing the CPLP, technical programming and civil society.

The panel answering students' questions are CPLP Executive Secretary Ambassador Luís Fonseca (Cape Vert); Portugal's National AIDS Coordinator Professor Henrique de Barros; and General Coordinator of Abia (a Brazilian non-governmental organization) Dra. Cristina Pimenta.

Video messages from some CPLP Heads of State; UNAIDS' Deputy Executive Director, Michel Sidibe and Former President Sampaiom, CPLP's Ambassador for Health Issues will be also broadcast.

This initiative also has the support of Lusófona University.

The 80 minute programme will include a short report about the AIDS epidemic in Mozambique, the Portuguese-speaking country with the highest numbers of people living with HIV.

UNAIDS is an innovative joint venture of the United Nations, bringing together the efforts and resources of the UNAIDS Secretariat and ten UN system organizations in the AIDS response. The Secretariat headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland - with staff on the ground in more than 80 countries. Coherent action on AIDS by the UN system is coordinated in countries through UN theme groups, and joint programmes on AIDS. UNAIDS' Cosponsors include UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank.

http://www.unaids.org