Press Releases

HIV/AIDS Benefit Concert in Livingstone - June 16 at the Zambezi Sun

Lusaka
June 14, 2007

LIVINGSTONE—The Livingstone Tourism HIV/AIDS Public-Private Partnership will hold Zambia’s first HIV/AIDS Benefit Concert on June 16 at the Zambezi Sun Hotel. This concert is part of the Tourism HIV/AIDS Partnership to promote HIV prevention, counseling and testing, care, and treatment in the Livingstone area.  In the two weeks leading up to the HIV/AIDS Concert, Zambian musical celebrities have joined forces with HIV/AIDS implementing organizations to conduct HIV/AIDS sensitization activities in selected communities in Livingstone.

The concert will feature popular local musicians including The Amayenge Cultural Ensemble, Danny, K’million, and MC Wabwino.  Prominent personalities attending include the first Republican President, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, His Royal Highness Chief Mukuni of the Toka-Leya, U.S. Ambassador to Zambia Carmen Martinez, representatives from the National Aids Council, the Provincial and District Health Management Board senior government officials, and representatives of key tourism operators in Livingstone. Proceeds from the Concert will be channeled to various community-based HIV/AIDS interventions through the Sun Hotel’s grants program.

In 2006 in support of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Framework, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), through its partner project Support to the HIV/AIDS Response in Zambia (SHARe), initiated the Tourism HIV/AIDS Partnership with key tourism businesses in Livingstone.  The partners include the Ministry of Tourism Environment and Natural Resources, the Zambian Wildlife Authority, Sun Hotels International, Bushtracks Africa, The River Club, Tongabezi, Kubu Crafts, Livingstone Adventures, Wasawange, Sussi & Chuma, and Islands of Siankaba.

The Livingstone Tourism HIV/AIDS Partnership seeks to establish and enhance HIV/AIDS workplace and community-based programs with joint support from the private tourism businesses and government agencies in Livingstone.  The Tourism HIV/AIDS Partnership is an innovative initiative targeted at addressing HIV/AIDS in Livingstone, which has one of the highest prevalence rates in Zambia and is a major tourist attraction.  Residents and mobile populations in the area are at high risk of HIV.

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