Dionne to perform in Bangkok
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warbachavid
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Dionne to perform in Bangkok
BANGKOK (AFP) - From musical performances to visits to condom factories, the world's celebrities are to play their biggest ever role at a global conference that starts here Sunday to highlight the worsening threat of AIDS. Beauty queens, the acting profession and musicians are all represented from the start when Miss Universe (news - web sites) 2004 Jennifer Hawkins helps open the conference, to the end when soul singer Dionne Warwick performs during the closing ceremony.
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warbachavid
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Thailand prepares for world's biggest AIDS conference
Saturday, July 10, 2004 at 10:20 JST
BANGKOK — Organisers are making the final preparations for the world's biggest AIDS conference, an event that will pound the drum for more funds to fight the pandemic, highlight a looming catastrophe in Asia and showcase the latest research into the killer disease.
Elder statesman Nelson Mandela is the star guest at the six-day 15th International AIDS Conference which opens in the Thai capital on Sunday and for which as many as 20,000 people have registered their attendance
Held once every two years, the conference is the top date on the AIDS calendar.
Over the past decade, its agenda has expanded with dizzying speed, encompassing issues as diverse as orphans and women's rights and the economic costs of AIDS to the use of condoms, encouraging behavioral change and the seemingly endless quest for a vaccine, a microbicide and a cure.
The force behind this change is the rampaging advance of AIDS itself.
In a report issued on Tuesday, the United Nations agency UNAIDS said more than 20 million people had died of AIDS since the disease was first detected among a group of US homosexuals in 1981.
Around 38 million people are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which wrecks the immune system and leaves the body vulnerable to opportunistic diseases such as tuberculosis, cancer and pneumonia.
Two thirds are in sub-Saharan Africa, a continent steamrollered by stigma, official indifference, ignorance and poor resources.
AIDS now has Eastern Europe and Asia in its sights, especially the "Big Three" countries, China, India and Indonesia, which together represent some 40% of humanity.
China — which only last year backtracked on years of denial about its worsening AIDS crisis — is sending more than 500 delegates, the most it has ever dispatched to this event.
Many are from provincial authorities, universities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), not just central government, which is a sign "China is waking up," UNAIDS chief Peter Piot said.
Premier Wen Jiabao was loudly applauded last year by shaking hands with an AIDS patient in an attempt to break entrenched stigma.
The overarching theme in Bangkok is "Access for All" and seminars, workshops and poster presentations will put the spotlight on the plight of women and children, the most vulnerable sectors of the population.
Sunday evening's opening ceremonies promise to be both colorful and poignant, with a show by Thai elephants, performances by Thai dancers, a choir composed of AIDS orphans from Thailand and Africa, and a candlelight memorial to show solidarity for people with HIV and AIDS.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan are to make the welcoming addresses.
Mandela, revered in the AIDS community, is due to appear on July 15, when he will speak at a special screening of a film based on a charity concert in Cape Town last December.
Last month, he announced his withdrawal from public life ahead of his 86th birthday but there was never any doubt of his wish to appear in Bangkok.
AIDS campaigners hope to muster thousands of people for a rally on Sunday to lobby for more funds to combat AIDS in poor countries.
Contributions have risen substantially in the past two years and are likely to be more than $5 billion in 2004. But they are still running woefully short of what is needed, UNAIDS said.
Because of it, the cost of treating the disease is zooming ahead. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a target of giving three million poor people access to antiretroviral drugs by the end of 2005. At the moment, the tally is around 400,000.
The world's celebrities are also playing their part at the conference.
Beauty queens, the acting profession and musicians are all represented from the start when Miss Universe 2004 Jennifer Hawkins helps open the conference, to the end when soul singer Dionne Warwick performs during the closing ceremony.
In between, a round of visits and photocalls are scheduled in an attempt to raise the profile of charities. Craig McClure, executive director of International AIDS Society which runs the conference, said the star factor at the fifteenth international AIDS conference had been scaled up dramatically compared with previous events.
Actress Ashley Judd will visit a condom factory on the eve of the conference as part of her role as an ambassador for YouthAIDS, a group attempting to prevent the spread of AIDS among the young.
Fellow YouthAIDS ambassador Coco Lee, the singer from Hong Kong, will join Judd for a visit to an orphanage and perform at a reception on the fringes of the conference.
Actor and activist Richard Gere is also to take part in a leadership session at the conference.
One of the first big names to appear in Bangkok was Hollywood star Rupert Everett who has long campaigned for the Global Fund which raises money for countries to spend on their AIDS programs.
He defended the role of the celebrities at the conference. "I dont feel my motives are to do with promoting myself but I do take on board that this ideally should be paid for by everybodys governments and there shouldn't be a necessity for someone like me to do anything," said the star of movies such as "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "The Importance of Being Earnest." (Wire reports)
Saturday, July 10, 2004 at 10:20 JST
BANGKOK — Organisers are making the final preparations for the world's biggest AIDS conference, an event that will pound the drum for more funds to fight the pandemic, highlight a looming catastrophe in Asia and showcase the latest research into the killer disease.
Elder statesman Nelson Mandela is the star guest at the six-day 15th International AIDS Conference which opens in the Thai capital on Sunday and for which as many as 20,000 people have registered their attendance
Held once every two years, the conference is the top date on the AIDS calendar.
Over the past decade, its agenda has expanded with dizzying speed, encompassing issues as diverse as orphans and women's rights and the economic costs of AIDS to the use of condoms, encouraging behavioral change and the seemingly endless quest for a vaccine, a microbicide and a cure.
The force behind this change is the rampaging advance of AIDS itself.
In a report issued on Tuesday, the United Nations agency UNAIDS said more than 20 million people had died of AIDS since the disease was first detected among a group of US homosexuals in 1981.
Around 38 million people are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which wrecks the immune system and leaves the body vulnerable to opportunistic diseases such as tuberculosis, cancer and pneumonia.
Two thirds are in sub-Saharan Africa, a continent steamrollered by stigma, official indifference, ignorance and poor resources.
AIDS now has Eastern Europe and Asia in its sights, especially the "Big Three" countries, China, India and Indonesia, which together represent some 40% of humanity.
China — which only last year backtracked on years of denial about its worsening AIDS crisis — is sending more than 500 delegates, the most it has ever dispatched to this event.
Many are from provincial authorities, universities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), not just central government, which is a sign "China is waking up," UNAIDS chief Peter Piot said.
Premier Wen Jiabao was loudly applauded last year by shaking hands with an AIDS patient in an attempt to break entrenched stigma.
The overarching theme in Bangkok is "Access for All" and seminars, workshops and poster presentations will put the spotlight on the plight of women and children, the most vulnerable sectors of the population.
Sunday evening's opening ceremonies promise to be both colorful and poignant, with a show by Thai elephants, performances by Thai dancers, a choir composed of AIDS orphans from Thailand and Africa, and a candlelight memorial to show solidarity for people with HIV and AIDS.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan are to make the welcoming addresses.
Mandela, revered in the AIDS community, is due to appear on July 15, when he will speak at a special screening of a film based on a charity concert in Cape Town last December.
Last month, he announced his withdrawal from public life ahead of his 86th birthday but there was never any doubt of his wish to appear in Bangkok.
AIDS campaigners hope to muster thousands of people for a rally on Sunday to lobby for more funds to combat AIDS in poor countries.
Contributions have risen substantially in the past two years and are likely to be more than $5 billion in 2004. But they are still running woefully short of what is needed, UNAIDS said.
Because of it, the cost of treating the disease is zooming ahead. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a target of giving three million poor people access to antiretroviral drugs by the end of 2005. At the moment, the tally is around 400,000.
The world's celebrities are also playing their part at the conference.
Beauty queens, the acting profession and musicians are all represented from the start when Miss Universe 2004 Jennifer Hawkins helps open the conference, to the end when soul singer Dionne Warwick performs during the closing ceremony.
In between, a round of visits and photocalls are scheduled in an attempt to raise the profile of charities. Craig McClure, executive director of International AIDS Society which runs the conference, said the star factor at the fifteenth international AIDS conference had been scaled up dramatically compared with previous events.
Actress Ashley Judd will visit a condom factory on the eve of the conference as part of her role as an ambassador for YouthAIDS, a group attempting to prevent the spread of AIDS among the young.
Fellow YouthAIDS ambassador Coco Lee, the singer from Hong Kong, will join Judd for a visit to an orphanage and perform at a reception on the fringes of the conference.
Actor and activist Richard Gere is also to take part in a leadership session at the conference.
One of the first big names to appear in Bangkok was Hollywood star Rupert Everett who has long campaigned for the Global Fund which raises money for countries to spend on their AIDS programs.
He defended the role of the celebrities at the conference. "I dont feel my motives are to do with promoting myself but I do take on board that this ideally should be paid for by everybodys governments and there shouldn't be a necessity for someone like me to do anything," said the star of movies such as "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "The Importance of Being Earnest." (Wire reports)
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warbachavid
- Posts: 268
- Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2004 8:30 pm
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warbachavid
- Posts: 268
- Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2004 8:30 pm
Media & Society | Several U.S. Celebrities Scheduled To Appear at XV International AIDS Conference
Several U.S. celebrities are slated to participate in the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, next month, Thailand's Nation reports. AIDS advocate and actor Richard Gere on July 12 is scheduled to officially launch the 2004 AIDS Film Festival in Siam Square with the Asian premier of the global AIDS documentary "A Closer Walk" (Khwankho, Thailand's Nation, 6/27). The film, by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Bilheimer, tells the stories of Paul Farmer, a Harvard professor and researcher who runs an AIDS clinic in Haiti; Hassan Semankula, a 15-year-old Ugandan teenager who dropped out of school to care for his family after his parents died of AIDS-related causes; Rev. Emanuel Cleaver, former Kansas City mayor and preacher at St. James United Methodist Church; the Dalai Lama; Irish rock star Bono; and others affected by and working to fight HIV/AIDS (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/5/03). Actress Ashley Judd -- who is the Youth AIDS global ambassador -- is scheduled to attend the opening of the film festival and various other activities throughout Thailand, including a visit to an AIDS hospice at Wat Phrabatrnumpu in Lop Buri, according to the Nation. Singer Dionne Warwick is scheduled to sing the last song at the closing ceremony of the conference on July 16 and perform at a 600-person VIP dinner concert on July 14 that is scheduled to include guests Oprah Winfrey and former South African President Nelson Mandela, according to the Nation. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales for the VIP event will go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Nation reports (Nation, 6/27).
Webcasts and other coverage of the XV International AIDS Conference will be available online at kaisernetwork.org/aids2004. Kaisernetwork.org will serve as the conference's official webcaster.
Additional information on the conference, including online registration, is available at aids2004.org.
Several U.S. celebrities are slated to participate in the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, next month, Thailand's Nation reports. AIDS advocate and actor Richard Gere on July 12 is scheduled to officially launch the 2004 AIDS Film Festival in Siam Square with the Asian premier of the global AIDS documentary "A Closer Walk" (Khwankho, Thailand's Nation, 6/27). The film, by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Bilheimer, tells the stories of Paul Farmer, a Harvard professor and researcher who runs an AIDS clinic in Haiti; Hassan Semankula, a 15-year-old Ugandan teenager who dropped out of school to care for his family after his parents died of AIDS-related causes; Rev. Emanuel Cleaver, former Kansas City mayor and preacher at St. James United Methodist Church; the Dalai Lama; Irish rock star Bono; and others affected by and working to fight HIV/AIDS (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/5/03). Actress Ashley Judd -- who is the Youth AIDS global ambassador -- is scheduled to attend the opening of the film festival and various other activities throughout Thailand, including a visit to an AIDS hospice at Wat Phrabatrnumpu in Lop Buri, according to the Nation. Singer Dionne Warwick is scheduled to sing the last song at the closing ceremony of the conference on July 16 and perform at a 600-person VIP dinner concert on July 14 that is scheduled to include guests Oprah Winfrey and former South African President Nelson Mandela, according to the Nation. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales for the VIP event will go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Nation reports (Nation, 6/27).
Webcasts and other coverage of the XV International AIDS Conference will be available online at kaisernetwork.org/aids2004. Kaisernetwork.org will serve as the conference's official webcaster.
Additional information on the conference, including online registration, is available at aids2004.org.
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warbachavid
- Posts: 268
- Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2004 8:30 pm
Richard Gere says fighting AIDS more important than Tibet issue
Tue Jul 13, 1:26 PM ET
BANGKOK (AFP) - Hollywood movie star Richard Gere said the AIDS (news - web sites) fight was more important to him than the Tibet issue, adding he had wept for the plight of infected youths since arriving here for a global summit.
"I found myself in the last few days getting very teary about this and in the middle of the night I started crying and it all came back to me," Gere told reporters at the 15th International AIDS Conference which began Sunday.
"This has been a very emotional time for me, it has kind of snuck up on me," said Gere, adding that many of his friends in the entertainment world had been infected by the deadly virus.
The Buddhist movie star said that while he remained firmly committed to his much publicized campaign for an independent Tibet and his support for its exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, AIDS was the biggest single threat to the planet.
"The most important (issue) is this one, to this planet, to this time and place is AIDS," he said.
Gere made the comments during a discussion on AIDS awareness and the media, taking a swipe at tough media censorship on condom awareness under the Bush administration.
"We may well have hopefully another administration in about four months in the US and along with that some sanity on this subject," Gere said.
The actor is one of a handful of celebrities including US soul singer Dionne Warwick, British actor Rupert Everett, Australian Miss Universe (news - web sites) Jennifer Hawkins and Hong Kong singer Coco Lee who have joined about 17,000 delegates at the AIDS summit, which is entitled "Access for All".
Some 38 million people are currently living with HIV and the UN has warned of an explosion in cases in Asia and Eastern Europe unless immediate action is taken.
Tue Jul 13, 1:26 PM ET
BANGKOK (AFP) - Hollywood movie star Richard Gere said the AIDS (news - web sites) fight was more important to him than the Tibet issue, adding he had wept for the plight of infected youths since arriving here for a global summit.
"I found myself in the last few days getting very teary about this and in the middle of the night I started crying and it all came back to me," Gere told reporters at the 15th International AIDS Conference which began Sunday.
"This has been a very emotional time for me, it has kind of snuck up on me," said Gere, adding that many of his friends in the entertainment world had been infected by the deadly virus.
The Buddhist movie star said that while he remained firmly committed to his much publicized campaign for an independent Tibet and his support for its exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, AIDS was the biggest single threat to the planet.
"The most important (issue) is this one, to this planet, to this time and place is AIDS," he said.
Gere made the comments during a discussion on AIDS awareness and the media, taking a swipe at tough media censorship on condom awareness under the Bush administration.
"We may well have hopefully another administration in about four months in the US and along with that some sanity on this subject," Gere said.
The actor is one of a handful of celebrities including US soul singer Dionne Warwick, British actor Rupert Everett, Australian Miss Universe (news - web sites) Jennifer Hawkins and Hong Kong singer Coco Lee who have joined about 17,000 delegates at the AIDS summit, which is entitled "Access for All".
Some 38 million people are currently living with HIV and the UN has warned of an explosion in cases in Asia and Eastern Europe unless immediate action is taken.
-
warbachavid
- Posts: 268
- Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2004 8:30 pm
Houston, Warwick wow fans
Published on Jul 17, 2004
The talk of the town over the past few days has been the impromptu duet between two legendary divas – Whitney Houston and her aunt Dionne Warwick – at the Dusit Thani Hotel’s Napalai Ballroom on Wednesday night.
To the surprise of enraptured concert-goers, who each doled out Bht6,000 for the DaimlerChrysler charity dinner concert for Aids, Houston became a welcome bonus.
Dressed in black pants and lace chiffon top, Houston took the stage, and was warmly welcomed by Warwick, dressed in a coral-pink pantsuit. Together they belted out a powerful rendition of “That’s What Friends Are For†in an evening that will long be remembered.
Houston and Warwick performed a duet in Germany prior to the Bangkok event. But they never imagine they would be staying in the same hotel during their Bangkok visit.
Our grapevine also tells us that Houston’s notorious husband Bobbie Brown may join his wife in Bangkok for her Monday concert.
The Dusit Thani Hotel has been the place to go celebrity-watching lately. Besides Houston and her entourage of big, burly bodyguards, Warwick and Richard Clayderman also stayed at the hotel, which was remaining tight-lipped about its star clients.
But after a bit of sleuthing, we did find out that air-conditioning is something Houston can live without. The superstar has requested that the air-conditioner in her room be turned off during her stay, apparently so she can become acclimatised to Bangkok’s weather. Electric fans have been delivered to the room just in case the heat became too much for the diva to bear.
And if you’re a Houston fan don’t send flowers – she won’t have them in her room as well.
We’re told Houston only drinks Vitelle spring water, so lots of that has been in stock at the Dusit Thani Hall for her daily rehearsal.
Cora Sukhyanga
The Nation
Published on Jul 17, 2004
The talk of the town over the past few days has been the impromptu duet between two legendary divas – Whitney Houston and her aunt Dionne Warwick – at the Dusit Thani Hotel’s Napalai Ballroom on Wednesday night.
To the surprise of enraptured concert-goers, who each doled out Bht6,000 for the DaimlerChrysler charity dinner concert for Aids, Houston became a welcome bonus.
Dressed in black pants and lace chiffon top, Houston took the stage, and was warmly welcomed by Warwick, dressed in a coral-pink pantsuit. Together they belted out a powerful rendition of “That’s What Friends Are For†in an evening that will long be remembered.
Houston and Warwick performed a duet in Germany prior to the Bangkok event. But they never imagine they would be staying in the same hotel during their Bangkok visit.
Our grapevine also tells us that Houston’s notorious husband Bobbie Brown may join his wife in Bangkok for her Monday concert.
The Dusit Thani Hotel has been the place to go celebrity-watching lately. Besides Houston and her entourage of big, burly bodyguards, Warwick and Richard Clayderman also stayed at the hotel, which was remaining tight-lipped about its star clients.
But after a bit of sleuthing, we did find out that air-conditioning is something Houston can live without. The superstar has requested that the air-conditioner in her room be turned off during her stay, apparently so she can become acclimatised to Bangkok’s weather. Electric fans have been delivered to the room just in case the heat became too much for the diva to bear.
And if you’re a Houston fan don’t send flowers – she won’t have them in her room as well.
We’re told Houston only drinks Vitelle spring water, so lots of that has been in stock at the Dusit Thani Hall for her daily rehearsal.
Cora Sukhyanga
The Nation