Bono Calls on Newspapers To ‘Do More’ To Combat HIV/AIDS at Conference in Dublin
Speaking at the opening of the World Association of Newspapers' three-day 2003 World Newspaper Conference in Dublin, Ireland, yesterday, Irish rock star and HIV/AIDS advocate Bono called on newspaper editors and publishers to "do more to combat AIDS," Agence France-Presse reports. According to Bono, about 7,000 people worldwide die of AIDS-related complications daily, and it would take $10 billion a year to "beat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria." He said, "It's not an acceptable question to ask in the start of the 21st century, 'Who should live or who should die?'" (Agence France-Presse, 6/9). He told the newspaper executives that he depended upon their publications to take seriously his work on debt relief and AIDS, according to the Associated Press. "I'm tough. But you're the toughest," Bono said, adding, "That's because of the power you have in your hands and your headlines. It's amazing" (Pogatchnik, Associated Press, 6/9). Bono said that he was "very proud" of President Bush's recent efforts to address the HIV/AIDS crisis, and that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac were "searching the coffers of the European Union to match" the United States' pledge of up to $1 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Agence France-Presse, 6/9).
DATA Board Meeting
Bono was in Seattle on Thursday for a board meeting of his organization Debt, AIDS, Trade Africa, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. He said, "When you're dealing with the kind of emergency and crisis that is Africa, particularly AIDS ... you've got to get out of your usual posture. For me, as a rock star, it's been very difficult. This is very unhip work." Bono said that the "AIDS emergency ... is an opportunity to show off what we do best in the West -- our technologies, these pharmaceuticals," adding, "Wherever they go, they will transform lives and communities" (Parvaz, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 6/6). Bono lauded Bush and Congress for efforts against HIV/AIDS, according to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial. However, the editorial concluded that Congress "must follow through by funding this country's AIDS commitment" set forth in the global AIDS bill (HR 1298) recently signed into law by Bush (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 6/6).