December 1, 2005 Source: University of Manitoba:
http://myuminfo.umanitoba.ca/index.asp?sec=209&too=100&dat=12/2/2005&sta=3&wee=1&eve=8&npa=9614 HOPE IS NOT JUST ANOTHER 4-LETTER WORD More than 200 students and staff of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba banded together in the Brodie Centre Atrium today to raise awareness and hope for United Nations World AIDS Day. Together, they used their bodies to spell out the word "HOPE," to symbolically plant a seed of hope for those affected by the AIDS virus. Currently, HIV/AIDS is a disease with no global boundaries. More than 40 million individuals are infected with HIV, with 10,000 new infections occurring daily. AIDS claims approximately 6,700 lives each day. Dr. Allan Ronald, former associate dean (research) and an Officer of the Order of Canada, spoke briefly to the crowd about his studies in Africa, a continent hit hardest by the AIDS epidemic. He joined Africa’s first largest HIV/AIDS clinic in Kampala, Uganda, in a jump-start program led by the Infectious Diseases Institute of Makerere University in 2002, to develop programs for training, care, research and prevention of AIDS. Today, students and faculty of the University of Manitoba worked together to raise hope and funds to donate to CARE Canada, to provide education on the prevention of HIV/AIDS in Africa. "Students became involved with Birth of Hope because we know we can help make a difference," says David Allen, second-year medical student and committee chair. "It is part of our journey to become caring and compassionate doctors." For more information, contact: Kimberley Corneillie, public affairs and communications officer, Faculty of Medicine, 204-789-3427, or David Allen, 204-831-1699 For more information, contact:
Chris Rutkowski
Media Relations Coordinator
Public Affairs
rutkows@ms.umanitoba.ca
Phone: (204) 474-9514
Fax: (204) 474-7631
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