Born HIV Free : campaign launch

On 19 May, a press conference was held at the Espace Pierre Cardin (Paris) to launch the European Born HIV Free campaign in favor of the Global Fund to fight AIDS.

“A future without AIDS”: this is the key message conveyed on launch of the Born HIV Free campaign on 19 May at the Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris. In the presence of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, ambassadress for the Global Fund’s work to protect mothers and children against the HIV virus, Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund, and Julien Civange, who conceived the Born HIV Free campaign, the media discovered the first films produced for this campaign to raise awareness of  mother-to-child HIV transmission. But before reporting on the different speeches, a few figures that are just as eloquent, taken from the first film to present the Global Fund: in Africa, some 400,000 children were born with HIV last year, compared to only four in France. Today, it is possible to reduce the risk of a seropositive pregnant woman transmitting the virus to her child to under 2%. The drugs and the know-how already exist.

Michel Kazachtkine, after presenting this video showing the Global Fund’s figures, in French and in English, added: between 2004 and 2009, the number of seropositive pregnant women given access to this treatment rose from under 10% to 45%. The goal is to take this to 80% by 2011. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy then arrived on stage. Adjusting her glasses, she said: “In a few years, there has been considerable progress in the field of prevention and almost half of all seropositive mothers now have access to the appropriate treatment during their pregnancy. By 2015, we want them all to enjoy this access. When this happens, not only will millions of children be able to live in good health, but also millions of mothers will be more likely to survive delivery of their child and be around to see them grow up”.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Michel Kazatchkine

The Global Fund ambassadress was wearing a T-shirt which will be handed out at the end of the press conference. Identified by its logo “Born HIV Free”, it is the same as the one in the film produced by Vincent Perez to promote the cause. Using the same principle as the Bob Dylan Subterranean Homesick Blues clip, it shows a static shot of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy presenting boards with portmanteau words for the cause: « Help / A child / With HIV / Eliminate / Sign the Petition / Born HIV Free… “. This is the principle behind the campaign: a vast operation, the first of its kind, rolled out in ten European countries by digital means, whose goal is to mobilize public opinion so that people put pressure on governments in October when they will be deciding on the funds to be allocated to the Global Fund for the next three years. Several ways of doing this are proposed, including signing up on the campaign website (www.bornhivfree.org) or on the dedicated You Tube website (www.youtube.com/bornhivfree). The campaign also uses artistic objects to illustrate its slogan: “Life is precious; don’t let AIDS destroy it before it even starts”.

“In December 2008, explains Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, “when I took up my functions as ambassadress for the Global Fund, I expressed the wish to encourage the artistic world to support this cause. It is thanks to the meeting of very talented creative minds that the Born HIV Free campaign has been launched today. I hope that you will share my enthusiasm and my admiration of the quality of the artistic productions making up this campaign – I am very proud to have, literally, lent my voice to it. I hope that the optimism of the message it conveys will inspire millions of people, and I invite them to support this cause, and, by extension, the Global Fund”.

Julien Civange then presented the animated films he conceived for this purpose, with the help of the H5 graphic design studio (four educational films on mother-to-child transmission of the virus), and the creative people from Bonzoms (Baby in the Sky) and MAP (Inside). They are the foundation stones of a campaign that will lead to an evening event scheduled for October 5 this year in New York, explained the man behind the campaign, who took the opportunity to show me a Tiffany brooch produced for the campaign. He added that Jean Paul Gaultier is planning to design a tee-shirt for the campaign, and that a special concert is expected to take place in Hyde Park this June … a whole suite of artistic productions, in fact. Julien Civange then proposed collecting the first signatures in support of the Born HIV Free campaign. “I’m not very used to this kind of keyboard,” admitted Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. But the important thing is to add your name …

Jean-Paul Gaultier, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Michel Kazatchkine

Credits photos : The Global Fund / Georges Merillon

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s speech

I am delighted to launch the Born HIV Free campaign today, as Global Fund ambassador.

This campaign is a drive to eliminate AIDS virus transmission from mothers to children around the world.

As we have just seen, more than 400,000 children are infected with HIV every year. Most of them live in Africa. This is unjust and unacceptable.

And the solution is within reach. The battle for an HIV-free generation is a battle for hope. Hope is what the Born HIV Free campaign is all about and hope is the message I want to send out to you today.

The past few years have brought considerable progress in the field of prevention, and practically one in two HIV-positive mothers have had access to suitable treatment during their pregnancy. By 2015, we want all those mothers to have that chance. Then, not only will millions of children be able to lead healthy lives: millions of mothers will have better chances of surviving childbirth and seeing their children grow up.

In December 2008, when I started serving as Global Fund ambassador, I said I wanted to bring artists into efforts to support this cause. The Born HIV Free campaign is kicking off today thanks to the combined efforts of amazingly talented creative minds. I hope you will be as enthusiastic and amazed as I am by the quality of the artistic features in this campaign. I am proud to have lent my voice – literally speaking – to this campaign.

I hope the optimism in the message we are sending out will inspire millions of people, and encourage them to support this cause and thereby the Global Fund.

With your help, we can bring back the right to hope to each mother and each child around the world.

We are only asking you to do one thing: sign your name on the bornhivfree.org website to show your support for the Global Fund.

Thank you all for being here today and for listening. Now would you please welcome my friend: musician and producer Julien Civange, the artistic mind behind this campaign.