Kiev, 16 January: A member of the Ukrainian parliament and owner of the ICTV television company, Viktor Pinchuk, and the founder of the Anti-AIDS charitable fund, Olena Franchuk [Pinchuk's wife and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's daughter], represented Ukraine at a round-table meeting of heads of leading media corporations and public organizations in New York.

The meeting was held on 15 January at the initiative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, launching the first global media campaign against HIV/AIDS, the Foreign Ministry's press service has reported.

Pinchuk stated ICTV's readiness to initiate a regional media movement in Eastern Europe, where, according to the UN, the number of HIV/AIDS positive people stands at 1.5m, with 230,000 being infected in 2003 alone.

Speaking about the importance of involving world leaders and celebrities in publicity and prevention work, Pinchuk invited the secretary-general to appeal to Ukrainian young people to fight "the plague of the 20th century".

The round table resulted in the signing of a declaration stating the participants' pledge to step up publicity and information activities to raise HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.

To date, more than 40m people have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, including 2.5m children under 15.

Left, Alexander Dybal, CEO and Chairman, Gazprom-Media, speaking with Amauri Soares, CEO, Globo International. Right is Viktor Pinchuk, Owner, International Commercial Television, and his wife Olena Franchuk
(Click on image to enlarge them)

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan launches the first global media campaign against HIV/AIDS
1/15/2004, NY, NY, UN Photos