Spotlight

New Delhi, 30 March 2007

CRICKETERS BAT FOR UN WAR ON AIDS

NEW DELHI, March 31 (INFA): Top cricket stars of the world presently participating in the World Cup in the West Indies have announced support to the United Nations campaign to control spread of HIV/AIDS among children and young people across the world.

The International Cricket Council is teaming up with the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership, in the latest collaboration between the UN and world sports bodies, to produce a series of public service announcements and other events during the seven-week-long Cup, which is reportedly drawing more than two billion television viewers.

The public, especially young people aged 15-24 will get information on the stigma and discrimination around HIV and on how to protect themselves against the virus.

Through high profile activities around cricket’s biggest event, the Council is supporting the Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign launched in 2005 by UNICEF, UNAIDS and other partners, which is focussed on ensuring antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive children, preventing mother-to-child transmission, promoting education programmes to help prevent HIV transmission, and aiding children who have been orphaned by AIDS.

Cricket is popular in many of the countries most affected by AIDS, including India and South Africa. Together, these two countries are home to around 11 million of the 40 million of the people estimated to be living with HIV. In the Caribbean, where the Cup is being held, UNAIDS estimated that 250,000 people were living with HIV in 2006, 15,000 of them children aged 10-14 years.

The ICC is being supported in the effort by the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS, a coalition of over 50 broadcasters in 23 Caribbean countries and territories.

The campaign is but the latest in a whole series of collaboration between the UN agencies and world sport, which has seen the likes of football legends Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane shooting against poverty, the European Swimming League in “a race against time” to prevent deaths from unclean water, and similar initiatives with the International Rugby Board, American football stars marathon runners and Formula One auto racers.---INFA