VH1 joins global AIDS fund in public education campaign (13058)

Television network VH1 has joined with the United Nations-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria for a collaborative public education campaign to raise awareness of the global AIDS pandemic. The first public service announcements for the campaign will begin airing on VH1 on July 13. The first-ever media partnership with the global fund will direct VH1 viewers to the global fund's Web site at www.theglobalfund.org and to a special section of the music network's Internet site to learn more about the pandemic and find ways to get involved in the fight against AIDS. The collaboration is in response to U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan's call earlier this year for a global media HIV/AIDS initiative.

"Most people know that AIDS is a global catastrophe," Annan said in a press release. "They may not know that we have the tools to turn the tide against the pandemic. That's why I am so pleased that VH1 is making this substantial commitment to increase public awareness of AIDS and the fight against it and to support the global fund."

Some of the 30-second spots that will begin airing on VH1 this month include one showing that 22 million people have already died of AIDS and another 38 million around the world are currently HIV-positive. Another spot points out that the average life expectancy in some African countries has fallen to just 33 years because of AIDS.