Global HIV/AIDS Media & Creative Meeting @ United Nations.

More than 100 creative and programming directors from 35 media companies, leading media figures and non-government organizations from around the world are met at the United Nations Headquarters to exchange ideas on how to incorporate HIV/AIDS messages into short- and long-form programming. This first-ever global creative meeting on HIV/AIDS builds on the efforts of the Global Media AIDS Initiative, launched in January 2004 by the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, and was organized by Viacom, MTV Networks International, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS), and the United Nations Department of Information (UNDPI). The meeting is also being supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS).

Dr. Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director, said, “The creative community has the power to shape behaviors of individuals and set positive lifestyle trends for communities. This coming together of the world’s best creative minds to focus on AIDS is a significant boost in the response to AIDS. Getting to the hearts and minds of people is key to stopping AIDS.”

Sumner M. Redstone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Viacom, said, “With two-thirds of the estimated cases preventable through information and education, the power of media is one of the most formidable tools that we have in fighting HIV/AIDS. This disease knows no boundaries, no genders, and no ethnicities and so must our response. Now, more than ever, our industry must work together to find new and compelling ways to make HIV/AIDS relevant to our audiences and to deliver lifesaving information to our viewers. Collectively, we can make a critical difference by helping to save millions of lives, and today’s meeting is another step in achieving this essential goal.”

Bill Roedy, President of MTV Networks International and UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, said, “With 38 million people infected with HIV/AIDS globally and more than half of all new infections among young people, HIV/AIDS is the defining moral issue of our time. Because of MTV’s long history addressing this issue among our youth audience, we are well suited to call together the first-ever creative meeting on HIV/AIDS, fulfilling a promise made at the UN Global Media AIDS Initiative launch. HIV/AIDS remains a top priority at MTV to continue to raise awareness through the Staying Alive campaign and engage others to form their own response to the epidemic.”

Drew E. Altman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Kaiser Family Foundation, said, “Media companies usually compete and keep their best creative ideas to themselves. Today, companies from across the globe are sharing experiences and ideas about how best to reach people with critical information on HIV.”

Fred M. Cohen, Chairman of IATAS, said, “The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is proud to be a sponsor of today’s important Global Media AIDS Initiative Creative Meeting at the United Nations. As the largest organization of global broadcasters, we are honored to participate with the Kaiser Family Foundation, Viacom, MTV Networks International, UNAIDS and UNDPI in the Global Media AIDS Initiative. The broadcasters and media organizations of the world play a pivotal role in not only creating but distributing programming which confronts one of the greatest crises of our time — HIV/AIDS.”