CNN Airs Special, ‘The End of AIDS: A Global Summit With President Clinton’
CNN's "CNN Presents" on Saturday aired a special one-hour global town hall program, "The End of AIDS: A Global Summit With President Clinton," examining international efforts to prevent and fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and considering how the world would be different if the pandemic were eliminated. Guests on the program included:
- Former President Bill Clinton;
- Paul Farmer, a Harvard University professor and co-founder of Partners in Health;
- Helene Gayle, president of CARE and the International AIDS Society;
- Richard Gere, actor and HIV/AIDS advocate;
- Rowan Gillies, international president of Medecins Sans Frontieres;
- Hank McKinnell, CEO of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer;
- Thembi Ngubane, an HIV-positive resident of the township of Khayelitsha, South Africa, who recorded an audio diary of her life for the past year;
- Bill Roedy, vice chair of MTV Networks, president of MTV Networks International, ambassador for UNAIDS and chair of the Global Media AIDS Initiative Leadership Committee;
- Zeda Rosenberg, CEO of the International Partnership for Microbicides; and
- Richard Stearns, president of the U.S. office of World Vision (Gupta, "The End of AIDS: A Global Summit With President Clinton," CNN, 4/30).
Speaking at the town hall held at the Mother AME Zion Church in Harlem, New York, Clinton expressed support for "opt-out" HIV testing -- which offers testing to all people but provides an option to decline the test -- in countries with high HIV prevalence, the New York Daily News reports. Clinton said 90% of HIV-positive individuals are unaware of their status, but "once you know your status, you can protect more people" (Kesner, New York Daily News, 4/29).
A photo gallery with information about summit participants is available online.
The complete transcript of the program is available online.
The following are links to CNN video segments from the program:
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Summit part one;
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Summit part two;
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Summit part three;
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Summit part four;
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Feature on living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S.;
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Report on Botswana;
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Clinton speaking at the summit;
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Gere speaking at the summit; and
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Ngubane speaking at the summit.
Series Topics
According to Indiantelevision.com, the program is the first in a series of three town hall meeting specials produced by CNN in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative. In "The End of AIDS," CNN Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange reported on Botswana and examined the most promising forms of treatment and the most effective government policies. In the second program in the series, which is scheduled to air in August, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will moderate the second global town hall meeting, which will focus on efforts to reduce poverty in the U.S. and developing countries. CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour will moderate the third town hall program, which is scheduled to air in September on the eve of the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City. The program will cover topics of global significance including global public health, effective global governance, climate change and alleviating religious disputes (Indiantelevision.com, 4/20).