UCSF ARI World AIDS Day concert on December 1 features gay men's chorus and remembrance, hope & thanks

The Leadership Council of the UCSF AIDS Research Institute will sponsor its third annual concert of remembrance, hope and thanks on World AIDS Day, December 1.  Headliners will be the Gay Men’s Chorus and Cantor Rosalyn Barak of Temple Emanu-el.

The performance will include prayers offered by religious traditions representing Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths.  Researchers working to end the global epidemic with be recognized and thanked at the event.

## Media are Invited to Cover:

World AIDS Day
Wednesday, December 1, 2004, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Most Holy Redeemer Church
100 Diamond Street (at 18th Street), in San Francisco.

“You hear daily that AIDS has become predictable, that it has lost its mystery.  Yet, every day thousands die and thousands become newly infected with HIV. AIDS is not history and living with it is not enough.  Ridding the world of the threat of HIV is the only acceptable goal. As we remember those lost to this disease, we will recommit ourselves to confronting HIV/AIDS and to do so for as long as it takes,” said the director of the AIDS Research Institute at UCSF, John S. Greenspan, PhD, BDS, FRCPath.

Latest statistics from UNAIDS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and San Francisco Department of Public Health include:

* 38 million people in the world are currently HIV-infected—half are women. In the U.S., 950,000 people are HIV-infected, and in S.F. about 19,000 people.

* 4.8 million people are newly infected with HIV every year—over half are women and children under age 15.  The CDC estimates 40,000 Americans are infected annually. For S.F., the estimate is between 900 and 1,000 new infections a year.

* 25 million people have died of AIDS over the last 23 years: 501,669 in the U.S., and 19,758 in San Francisco (as of Sept.30, 2004).

* 8,000 people die worldwide of AIDS every day—over half are women and children under age 15. In the U.S., AIDS is the leading cause of death for African-American women aged 25-34.

Media interested in covering the UCSF World AIDS Day concert or interviewing Dr. Greenspan should contact Jeff Sheehy at 415-597-8165 or cell 415-845-1132.