Sir Elton will speak at the 19th International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, on July 23, 2012

NEW YORK, June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Sir Elton John, Founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), has been selected by the organizers of the 19th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) to serve as a keynote speaker for the Conference. Sir Elton will deliver his keynote address during the Monday, July 23, session on Public Private Partnerships. AIDS 2012 will be held July 22-27, in Washington, DC. Other high-level speakers at the Conference will include President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Bill Gates.

An estimated 25,000 conference participants will attend AIDS 2012, which has been organized under the theme Turning the Tide Together. This theme focuses on the urgent truth that a global and decisive commitment is crucial to change the course of the epidemic, now that science is presenting promising results in HIV treatment and biomedical prevention.

EJAF agrees with this assessment and has been emphasizing this fact for quite some time in its communications. Sir Elton’s keynote speech at AIDS 2012 provides him with a key opportunity to reach out to a large international audience and show how this epidemic can be turned around by focusing on the needs of the marginalized and vulnerable populations most at risk for HIV infection and by reducing stigma and homophobia.

About EJAF

The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) was established as a nonprofit organization in the United States in 1992 and as a registered charity in the United Kingdom in 1993 by Sir Elton John. Together, both entities have raised more than $275 million for worthy programs in 55 countries around the globe since inception. Today, the Foundation is one of the world’s leading nonprofit HIV/AIDS organizations supporting innovative HIV prevention programs, efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS, and direct care and support services for people living with HIV/AIDS. The U.S. organization’s current grant-making priorities target HIV prevention programs throughout the United States, the Americas, and the Caribbean; HIV prevention and care services for highly marginalized and vulnerable populations; and HIV/AIDS prevention education and the promotion of sexual health for adolescents. For more information, please visit www.ejaf.org.

About AIDS 2012

AIDS 2012 is convened by the International AIDS Society and the conference’s international partners: the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+); the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO); the International Community of Women with HIV/AIDS (ICW) and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS): the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC); Sidaction. The U.S.-based Black AIDS Institute; the District of Columbia Department of Health (DOH); the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA); the National Institutes of Health (NIH); the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) at the White House; and the U.S. Positive Women’s Network (USPWN) are serving as local partners.

SOURCE Elton John AIDS Foundation