Elton John and Annie Lennox OBE join a number of celebrity and activist signatories who have written to Boris Johnson asking for his help in the fight against “a new AID’s emergency” ahead of the upcoming G7 summit.
The letter opens: “We face a new AIDS emergency, and we need your help. We are writing to you as Chair of this year’s G7 summit.” It continues: “While naturally Covid-19 is currently dominating the agenda, it is vital that you and your fellow leaders also protect and build on what we have achieved in the fight to end AIDS and use that in the struggle against Covid-19.The Covid-19 crisis has shut down HIV prevention and treatment services, in many countries literally overnight. It has cut off millions of girls from school, and driven up poverty, gender-based violence and human rights violations. All of these factors increase people’s risks of acquiring HIV or of developing AIDS. Already we have seen a steep increase in rates of adolescent pregnancy, which we know will mean a surge in HIV infections too.”
The letter goes on to illuminate: “The Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria has warned that HIV service delivery has been massively disrupted with HIV testing falling by 41% across 502 health facilities in Africa and Asia. The World Health Organisation has highlighted widespread disruption to HIV treatment supply chains.” Concluding that the G7 summit and Boris Johnson must address this issue urgently.
Elton John is the founder of the Elton John Aids Foundation, which is a non-profit organisation set up in the UK back in 1993 to “be a powerful force in the end to the AIDS epidemic. We are committed to no more discrimination. No more HIV infections. No more AIDS deaths. No matter who or where you are.” Annie Lennox OBE founded the NGO The Circle back in 2003. The organisation promotes women’s equality and empowerment, and was moved by Lennox’ time in Cape Town, South Africa in 2003 at the launch of Nelson Mandela’s HIV/AIDs Foundation, she said: “Mandela’s 46664 Foundation invited the musicians to visit hospitals, orphanages, townships and people’s homes, so we could see the ravages of AIDS for ourselves. This kind of personal witnessing had a profound effect on me. I was shocked and appalled by the fact that so few people seemed to be aware of what was happening, let alone taking effective action. As a woman and mother, I resolved to contribute to supporting the cause and amplifying the virtually silent voice of women and children affected by HIV and AIDS.”
The G7 summit is set to take place between 11 – 13 June 2021 in St. Ives, Cornwall. You can read the full open letter to the Prime Minister here.
