AEGiS-PRn: Economists, AIDS Experts Highlight Major Impact of AIDS on Global Business and National Economies; amfAR Symposium at UN Hears Call for New Partnerships With Business to Combat Spread of AIDS Epidemic

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Economists, AIDS Experts Highlight Major Impact of AIDS on Global Business and National Economies; amfAR Symposium at UN Hears Call for New Partnerships With Business to Combat Spread of AIDS Epidemic

PRNewswire - November 30, 1999

NEW YORK, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- At a high-level symposium at the United Nations this morning, business and economic experts predicted the AIDS story will soon move from the health pages to the business pages of the world's newspapers. Speaking at the Global Economics of HIV/AIDS: Defining Social and Business Costs symposium sponsored by the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), Dr. David E. Bloom of Harvard University's School of Public Health told an audience of AIDS experts and business leaders that HIV/AIDS has a disproportionately great impact on business.

"There is a multiplier effect," Dr. Bloom said, "because AIDS attacks men and women in their prime working and consuming years... And because the disease works slowly," Dr. Bloom added, "health care costs are high -- high enough to deplete the financial resources of the worst hit developing nations." AIDS has also produced 11.2 million orphans, creating a major financial burden and taking an incalculable human toll on societies around the world.

Dr. Bloom and the other panelists who participated in today's symposium said the international business community should form public/private partnerships in a new offensive to combat the spread of the disease.

"The latest statistics verify that the epidemic continues unabated," said Jerome J. Radwin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of amfAR. "Combined with what we've learned about the effectiveness of current therapies, it's clear the impact of HIV/AIDS on the global economy will be enormous unless we act now to slow the spread of this deadly disease."

There is no cure for HIV/AIDS, but panelists at the symposium agreed that a global information campaign designed to educate men and women about the disease could have a measurable impact on transmission and mortality rates. "Communication is one area where the private sector excels," Dr. Bloom pointed out, "and at the moment, information is the best vaccine we have."

The Global Economics of HIV/AIDS symposium was moderated by ABC Nightline anchor Ted Koppel, and featured filmed remarks by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and presentations by a panel that included Dr. Hoosen M. Coovadia (Head, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Natal School of Medicine), Mr. Jon S. Corzine (Chairman and CEO of Goldman, Sachs, 1994 - 1999), Mr. Eduardo Doryan (Vice President, Human Development Network, World Bank), Dr. Sandra Hernandez (Executive director, San Francisco Foundation and amfAR Board member), and Dr. Peter Piot (Executive Director, UNAIDS), in addition to keynote speaker, Dr. David Bloom (Professor of Economics and Demography, Harvard School of Public Health).

Sir George Alleyne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization, and actress Sharon Stone, Chairman of amfAR's Campaign for AIDS Research, spoke at a luncheon immediately following the morning symposium.

The symposium was sponsored in part through educational grants by Fleet Bank, The Schnurmacher Foundations, and Serano Laboratories.

The American Foundation for AIDS Research is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research (both basic- biomedical and clinical research), AIDS prevention, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested over $161 million in support for its programs, primarily through grants to nearly 1800 research teams. For further information about amfAR, contact their offices in New York at 212-806-1600.

SOURCE American Foundation for AIDS Research

CONTACT: Ty Trippet, Director of Communications of amfAR, 212-806-1602, or 917-209-7879, or ty.trippet@amfar.org; or Donna Allen of Hill & Knowlton for amfAR, 202-944-1923/

Web Site: http://www.amfar.org/
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