BLACKCAPS and Pakistan teams support World AIDS Day initiative

Members of the BLACKCAPS and Pakistan teams will be wearing red ribbons on the first day of the second Test in Wellington today (Thursday 3 December) to mark international cricket's global HIV/AIDS initiative.

The International Cricket Council's Think Wise programme aims to raise awareness about HIV across the world's cricket community and help to prevent new HIV infections.

The programme is part of a partnership between the ICC, the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNICEF and the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI) that for more than six years has reached out to the cricketing community to work together to respond to global AIDS crisis.

In addition to the New Zealand v Pakistan Test, players are also wearing the red ribbons this week in the India v Sri Lanka Test at Mumbai, and the Australia v West Indies Test at Adelaide, recognising World AIDS Day on 1 December.

New Zealand Cricket Chief Executive Justin Vaughan said international cricket provides an effective, wide-reaching voice that helps to communicate about HIV/AIDS issues in many countries.

"Cricket is an international sport with a high public profile and global reach into commununities all over the world," he said. "It's important that the sport can use its influence positively and work to increase understanding about HIV/AIDS.

"New Zealand Cricket and the BLACKCAPS are pleased to be associated with a programme that uses cricket as a catalyst for change in the way that young people in particular think about and respond to AIDS issues."

UNICEF NZ Executive Director, Dennis McKinlay, says that the global partnership with the International Cricket Council, including New Zealand Cricket, is a great way to raise awareness of the impact of HIV-AIDS, particularly in the developing world.

“For millions of women in the developing world the risk of HIV and AIDS is a terrible reality, with pregnancy creating the added risk of passing the virus to their child.”

Mr McKinlay says that a UNICEF report issued this week indicates significant progress in some countries in both treatment to avoid mother-to-child transmission and testing of pregnant women for HIV.

“The data shows that 45 per cent of HIV-positive pregnant women are now receiving treatment to prevent them passing HIV to their children, an increase of nearly 200 per cent since 2005.

“This is positive news, but more effort and resource needs to be applied to improve these figures further and to save the lives of countless mothers and children.”