ICC East Asia - Pacific Region launches 'Run Out AIDS' campaign

The International Cricket Council (ICC) East Asia-Pacific Development Program, as part of the ICC / UNAIDS partnership, is using the occasion of World Aids Day 2004 (1 December) to launch its `Run Out AIDS' campaign.

The campaign aims to integrate HIV/AIDS in activities including cricket tournaments and cricket education courses, and link up UNAIDS with individual National Cricket Bodies in the ICC East Asia-Pacific (EAP) region to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS. ICC Member countries of the EAP region - which is supported by ICC Full Members Australia and New Zealand - are Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Republic of Korea, Tonga and Vanuatu. Initiatives will vary from country to country depending on the issues identified between the National Bodies and the local UNAIDS staff.

World AIDS Day is commemorated around the world on 1 December. It celebrates progress made in the battle against the epidemic - and brings into focus remaining challenges. This year's World AIDS Day highlights `Have you heard me today' - the theme of the World AIDS campaign 2004. The campaign focuses on the many issues affecting women and girls around HIV and AIDS.

In September 2003 the ICC entered into a strategic alliance with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to take up the fight against HIV/AIDS in cricket playing countries. The partnership's primary aim is to use cricket to raise public awareness of HIV/AIDS in the cricket playing world.

"The growing threat of HIV/AIDS among communities in which cricket is played in the East Asia-Pacific region is very real," said Tim Anderson, ICC EAP Regional Development Manager. "I hope that through this partnership the ICC EAP Development Program is able to play its part in helping UNAIDS curb the spread of HIV/AIDS."

Of the estimated 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, over 12 million live in cricket playing countries - over 165,000 of those from countries within the ICC East Asia-Pacific region. In Indonesia alone, over 100,000 people are living with HIV or AIDS.

"Although HIV prevalence levels remain low in the Pacific Islands, we must not underestimate the size of the challenges confronting the region," said Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS at a recent UNAIDS workshop in Fiji.

"The stage is set for an expanding and widespread HIV epidemic in the region due to a dramatic increase in sexually transmitted infections and risky sexual behaviour among young people aged 15 to 25", he said.

The partnership with UNAIDS is supported by all of the ICC's Full Member countries.

For more information about World AIDS Day visit www.unaids.org.

For information on UNAIDS World AIDS Day activities in East Asia-Pacific Member countries click here.

For further information on the impact of HIV/AIDS among ICC East Asia-Pacific Member countries click here and follow the `Run Out AIDS' links