World AIDS Day organised on December 1st
15/12/2008
On the occasion of the Worlds AIDS Day on the 1st of December RUBSI (The Research Unit in Behaviour and Social Issues) and the University of Nicosia organized an event at the Journalists’ House in Nicosia. The event was under the auspices of the European Parliament – Cyprus Office and the Representation of the European Commission in Cyprus.
The event was addressed by her Excellency the Commissionaire of Health Mrs Androula Vassiliou who was escorted by members of her team. During her speech Mrs Vassiliou referred to the significant achievements made in combating HIV/AIDS and focused on the serious challenges that lie ahead. She also said that she considers HIV/AIDS as a political priority and she reconfirmed her commitment in taking further action to address these challenges.
Dr Adamos Adamou, a Cypriot member of the European Parliament honored the event with his address, which focused on the social dimension of HIV/AIDS. The social stigmatization of persons with HIV/AIDS was also mentioned in the address by Mr Nicos Dedes, of the European AIDS Treatment Group and Co-Chairman of the Civil Society Forum of HIV/AIDS.
The Cyprus Minister of Health was represented by the General Director of the Ministry Mr Yiannos Papadopoulos who referred to the services offered so far to people with HIV/AIDS in Cyprus and, at the same time, expressed the Government’s willingness to take further steps both in terms of the treatment, as well as for the minimization of the social exclusion of people with HIV/AIDS.
During the event Dr Constantinos Phellas and PhD Candidate Ms Mevhibe Hocaoglou presented the results of Research conducted in the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities respectively on HIV/AIDS within the framework of the program “Information for Life: An educational campaign on HIV/AIDS preventive measures” which was financed by UNDP.
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