Press Information

For press inquiries, please contact Elaine Merguerian at: elainem@asiasoc.org.

PHOTOGRAPHY DISPLAY, INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM IN MUMBAI TO ADDRESS INDIA’S AIDS CRISIS

In an effort to focus new attention on the AIDS crisis in India and to support India’s response to it, Asia Society will host its third annual Asian Dialogue on HIV/AIDS in Mumbai, April 27–29, 2006.

This project, aimed at strengthening current responses in India and its neighbors, will include a groundbreaking exhibition of documentary photography that opens on Thursday, April 27 at the Cymroza Gallery in Mumbai, titled Positive Lives, Positive Stories: Faces of HIV and AIDS in Asia. The exhibition, co-presented by Asia Society, Positive Lives, Levi-Strauss, Terrence Higgins Trust, and Concern Worldwide will be on display at Cymroza Gallery through May 26, 2006. An international symposium, on Friday, April 28 at the Taj Hotel, will draw leaders from various sectors in the pan-Asian region, representing civil society, government, business and the arts community, to share experiences working on HIV/AIDS. The symposium will be co-presented by the Asia Society, CII, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and Positive Lives.

Invited speakers at the press conference at 3:00 pm on Thursday, April 27 th include Salman Ahmad, from Junoon, who will soon be releasing his new music video, Al-Vida, that focuses on stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS and women’s empowerment. Other speakers include Sanjay Suri, lead actor in My Brother Nikhil, Kevin Ryan of Positive Lives, and Dr. Jamie Metzl, Dr. Shyama Venkateswar and Ms. Elizabeth Williams of Asia Society.

The conference, entitled, “Building a Social Agenda for HIV/AIDS: Sharing Asian Experiences,” will include numerous speakers from India and across Asia such as  Oscar Fernandes, Minister of State, Meena Seshu, Director of SANGRAM, Suniti Solomon from YRG Care, Neeraj Swaroop, CEO of Standard Chartered, Bharati Dey from Sonagachi, as well as Marina Mahathir (Malaysia), Jon Ungphakorn (Thailand), Arash Alaei (Iran), Chung To (Hong Kong), Li Xiguang (China) and others .

With more than 5 million people estimated to be living with the virus and an estimated half a million new infections last year alone, India’s HIV/AIDS prevalence is second in the world only to South Africa. According to Shyama Venkateswar, Director of Asia Society’s Asian Social Issues Program, “As India rises as a global economic power, the impact of HIV/AIDS threatens to reverse its increasing prosperity and growth. The stakes are very high - an unchecked HIV epidemic could undermine the potential economic gains of the world’s largest democracy.”

Launched in October, 2003 with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Asia Society AIDS in Asia Initiative aims to raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic in Asia, and to mobilize Asian decision makers and their American counterparts to build a collaborative response to Asia’s growing HIV/AIDS crisis. The Society’s Asian Dialogue on HIV/AIDS follows the recent launch of Asia Society’s new India Centre in Mumbai. 

Asia Society is the leading global organization working to strengthen relationships and promote understanding among the people, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States. We seek to enhance dialogue, encourage creative expression, and generate new ideas across the fields of policy, business, education, arts, and culture. 

The Asia Society India Centre is a multidimensional resource, a forum for intra-Asian connections and exchange, and a high-profile platform for U.S.-South Asia dialogue. The Centre provides year-round programming in the areas of business, policy, social issues, arts and culture. The honorable Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, inaugurated the centre on March 18, 2006, in Mumbai, India. The establishment of the India Centre is part of a major expansion of the Asia Society as a global organization with active hubs throughout Asia and the United States.

Information on Past Conferences:

http://www.asiasource.org/asip/positivelives/china.html