StarTimes enters into partnership with UNAIDS  to help Africa fight AIDS epidemic

Africa’s digital TV operator StarTimes and UNAIDS have formally established partnership with signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU)  in Beijing tackle AIDS epidemic.

According to the MOU, the two parties created a strategic partnership with the aim of achieving a shared objective and common goal, which is to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

A statement said StarTimes and UNAIDS will work together to increase awareness of HIV and to reduce stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV and whose live affected by HIV across the broadcast networks of StarTimes that are available throughout the African continent.

“Your StarTimes network which will be able to reach millions of Africans with information which will help us not just to give pills to people but will be able to restore their dignity to those people,” UNAIDS Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of the UN, Michel Sidibé said on the signing ceremony of the MOU noting that people will have the knowledge and information to protect themselves, and then we can really control the epidemic.

President of StarTimes Group, Pang Xinxing said: “AIDS is the public enemy of all mankind and we are honored to work together with UNAIDS to shoulder the mission of fighting AIDS.”

Pang added that the first step of ending AIDS is to enhance awareness of HIV by StarTimes, as an influential digital TV operator, will help let more people know HIV and how HIV is transmitted.

Since 27th, July 2016 when Michel Sidibé paid a visit to StarTimes, the two sides have started their discussion on exploring opportunities for collaboration in order to reduce the impact of HIV in Africa.On 1st, December 2016, the World AIDS Day, StarTimes and UNAIDS worked together to reach millions of people in Africa with two short videos message that promote the life-cycle approach to HIV prevention — finding HIV solutions for everyone, at every stage of life.

As a responsible corporation, StarTimes, the statement said, always takes corporate social responsibility seriously. During the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014, StarTimes created content and broadcast messages and programmes about the prevention and management of Ebola, including pull-up banners in outlet stores, scroll messages on-screen and online activities through social media.

Daniel Obi