Janet?Jackson, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Brooke Shields joined thousands of revelers in risque attire Saturday at the Life Ball, a flamboyant Austrian fundraiser for people with HIV and AIDS.
In 2002, Clinton established an initiative to facilitate access to antiretroviral treatment and improve national health care systems in developing countries.
Jackson recalled how in 1998, a South African AIDS activist was beaten to death by her neighbors after announcing on television that she was HIV positive.
Earlier, she told reporters that every little bit helps when it comes to fighting AIDS.
“We can’t continue to let this happen,” said Jackson, who is a representative of amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.
In a video address, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called for continued action to ensure progress.
“We need to constantly renew our commitment and measure our success not in terms of resolutions past but in the lives of future generations saved,” he said. “We all have a role to play.”
Source: The Associated Press.
