17 September 2008, Beijing –- UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot presented today the “UNAIDS Award for Outstanding Contributions to the AIDS Response” to Chinese basket ball icon Yao Ming as well as UNAIDS Special Representative Serge Dumont, Omnicom Group Inc. Senior Vice President and President Asia Pacific, and Professor Li Xiguang, Executive Dean of Tsinghua University School of Journalism and Communication.
Yao Ming thanked Dr. Piot and UNAIDS for the award by video message as he is currently occupied with finding ways to help the earthquake victims of Sichuan province. A representative of Team Yao received the medal on Yao Ming’s behalf. The award is in honour of his very public and strong support to counter stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV.
“I am very honoured to receive this esteemed award for AIDS work. Contributing to the fight against AIDS is something that I happily do as I believe that AIDS is one of the most important global problems. We can and we should all do something to stop the spread of AIDS and the discrimination of people living with HIV” said Yao Ming.
Businessman and UNAIDS Special Representative Serge Dumont said: "There are many ways the business sector can contribute to a successful AIDS response. In particular, savvy approaches are required in a number of places around the world to help overcome the prevalent prejudices, which continue to affect people living with HIV".
AIDS work in China has in the past 5 years been strengthened significantly by the increasing mobilisation of many different non-health sectors such as private business and the media. However, much remains to be done.
A resent survey supported by UNAIDS found that 65% of the surveyed adult population were unwilling to live in the same household as a person living with HIV. Nearly 50 % thought mistakenly that HIV can be transmitted through a mosquito bite.
Professor of Communication and Journalism and award winner Li said: “Journalists can make an important difference to how people think about AIDS through good reporting. False perceptions need to be overcome by communicating correct information in interesting and innovative ways.”
Dr. Peter Piot who has been the leader of UNAIDS for 12 years and has observed and supported the AIDS work personally through his many visits to China said: “I am really pleased that the AIDS response has the critical support of sports stars, the business community, media and academia alike. AIDS is so much more than a health issue and without the help of champions like the ones we honour today, we cannot be successful in stopping the spread of AIDS.”
Approximately 700,000 people are living with the virus in China. More than 30 million people are estimated to be practicing risky sexual and drug use behaviour. These include people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, sex workers, and clients of sex workers.
The event took place at China's prestigious Tsinghua University. For photos and documents from the event kindly refer to: www.unaids.org.cn/en/piot _08
Photo Caption:Three awardees of UNAIDS Award for Outstanding Contributions to the AIDS Response were presented by Dr Peter Piot (middle) on September 17th 2008. The three distinguished awardees are Prof. Li Xiguang (right), Executive Dean of Tsinghua University School of Journalism and Communication; Mr Serge Dumont (2nd left), UNAIDS Special Representative and Omnicon Group Inc. Senior Vice President and President Asia Pacific, and Yao Ming, Chinese Basketball icon (his manager on his behalf).
Contact
Ole Schack Hansen | UNAIDS China |
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. Visit the UNAIDS Web site at www.unaids.org and www.unaids.org.cn.