UCSF Aids Research Institute sponsors World Aids Day Concert of Rememberance & Hope

The Interfaith Council of the UCSF AIDS Research Institute will sponsor a concert of remembrance and hope at St. Francis Lutheran Church by J. Wingate Greathouse and friends.  The performance will be followed by reflections on the rapidly escalating global HIV/AIDS epidemic by Thomas J. Coates, PhD, UCSF professor of medicine and director of UCSF’s AIDS Research Institute. 

* EDIA ARE INVITED TO COVER:
* EVENT: World AIDS Day-Sunday, December 1, 2002
*TIME:  6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
* LOCATION: St. Francis Lutheran Church
* 152 Church Street (between Market St. & Duboce Ave.)
* San Francisco

“With grim reports about the worsening epidemic from every continent, we solemnly remember on this World AIDS Day those who have already succumbed to this dreadful disease and we find solace and hope in our unwavering determination to prevail in the war against HIV/AIDS,” said Coates.

The following statistics about the global HIV/AIDS epidemic are from UNAIDS and the estimates for China, India, and Russia are from an article by Nicholas Eberstadt in the November/December 2002 issue of Foreign Affairs:

* 40 million people in the world are currently HIV-infected.

* 25 million people have died of AIDS over the last twenty years.

* 14,000 people are newly infected with HIV every day-over half are women and children under fifteen.

* 8,000 people die of AIDS every day-over half are women and children under fifteen.

* The intermediate estimate for new HIV infections over the next 25 years for China is 70 million, for India is 110 million, and for Russia is 13 million.

* The intermediate estimate for cumulative deaths due to AIDS over the next 25 years for China is 40 million, for India is 56 million, and for Russia is 9 million.

Media interested in covering UCSF’s World AIDS Day Concert or interviewing Dr. Coates should contact Jeff Sheehy at (415) 845-1132.