Vladimir Pozner will host Russia-wide anti-AIDS telethon, which starts on 15 May in St. Petersburg.Published: 26.05.2005 |
A press conference was held on 12 May to launch
the large-scale anti-AIDS television project,
entitled ‘Time to Live’. Regional telethons will
take place between May and December 2005 in 11
Russian cities: St. Petersburg, Ulan Ude,
Ulyanovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Tver,
Volgograd, Kazan, Tomsk, Irkutsk and Barnaul. The
programmes will be hosted by Vladimir Pozner,
Elena Khanga and other famous presenters.
The project was set up by major Russian and
international non-profit organisations working in
the field of HIV/AIDS, including UNAIDS, UNDP, the
European Commission, Internews, FOCUS-MEDIA, AIDS
Foundation East-West (AFEW), Population Services
International (PSI), and the Community of People
Living with HIV/AIDS.
The ‘Time to Live’ project is a continuation of
the HIV/AIDS telethon which was broadcast on
Channel 1 on 1 December 2004. Tutta Larsen and
Vladimir Pozner hosted a talk show which was
transmitted live from the Ostankino studio with
support from popular musical artists, including
Mumii Troll, Moralnii Kodeks, Aria, Voskresenye,
Chaif, Linda and Valery Syutkin. The telethon was
seen by more than 25 million people in Russia
alone, and television critics called Time for Life
the best programme of the month.
Building on the success of that programme, its
organisers decided to continue the Time to Live
project and hold a series of talk shows on
regional channels in 11 regions of Russia.
Representatives of local government and NGOs
working in the sphere of HIV/AIDS will take part
in the programmes, as well as doctors, teachers,
journalists and people living with HIV/AIDS. The
first regional telethon will take place in St.
Petersburg on 15 May.
The official statistics alone show that today in
Russia there are around 311 000 people living with
HIV/AIDS, with around 100 new cases being
registered every single day. The epidemic is
reaching into ever wider sections of the
population, and presents a serious social and
economic threat for the whole of Russian
society.
The goal of the ‘Time to Live’ project is to get
people involved in thinking about the issues of
HIV/AIDS, provide reliable information on the
epidemic’s development, and also cover problems
specific to particular regions or participants.
Open discussion, and live debate involving the
presenters, studio audience and viewers at home
will mean that people will gain full and balanced
information on HIV/AIDS. The fact that Vladimir
Pozner, one of the best Russian television
presenters, is taking part ensures that even the
most difficult and controversial topics will be
covered. |
|
News
