Sir Elton John Raises Millions At Oscar Bash

SIR ELTON JOHN's 2010 post-Oscars AIDS Foundation party was a hit - the singer raised a massive $3.7 million (£2.5 million) in just a few hours at the lavish star-studded bash.

The Rocket Man hitmaker and his partner David Furnish invited a host of celebrities, including Betty White, Nicole Richie and Victoria Beckham, to attend the 18th annual celebration, which raises money for the fight against AIDS. Full Story here.

US Lifts HIV/Aids Immigration Ban

The US has lifted a 22-year immigration ban which has stopped anyone with HIV/Aids from entering the country.

President Obama said the ban was not compatible with US plans to be a leader in the fight against the disease.

The new rules come into force on Monday and the US plans to host a bi-annual global HIV/Aids summit for the first time in 2012. Full story here.

Sharing knowledge on HIV/AIDS, The Law and Human Rights

AIDSLEX is a tool for activists, community organizations, researchers, policy-makers, journalists, health workers and anyone who seeks quick and easy access to a wide range of resources about HIV, human rights and the law. The central component of the website is a database of over 2700 documents (and growing) on a range of human rights and legal issues related to HIV/AIDS. Items are available in one or more of the following languages: English, French, Spanish and Russian. Please feel free to visit their website here.

Join Us for World AIDS Day in Second Life!

"RYAN WHITE VIRTUAL STORY TREE" TO OPEN THE
WORLD AIDS DAY '09 MULTI-MEDIA EVENTS IN SECOND LIFE®

Jeanne White-Ginder among Presenters at International Virtual Event Honoring Ryan White and the Healing Power of Stories


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Los Angeles, CA (November 25, 2009)--An international group of HIV/AIDS organizations will collaborate on World AIDS Day '09 - across borders of time, space and geography - to celebrate the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and to honor the memory of Ryan White with the launch of the "Ryan White Virtual Story Tree," in Second Life® (SL).

Jeanne White-Ginder, Ryan White's mother, will be among the participants for the dedication of the virtual story tree at the multi-media, mixed reality celebration of life coordinated by The Virtual Worlds Story Project (www.tvwsp.com) on Karuna, the National Library of Medicine funded HIV/AIDS sim in Second Life® (www.karunahiv.com).

"Ryan loved media and would have enjoyed being part of a virtual world that teaches tolerance and understanding of people with HIV/AIDS," said Jeanne White-Ginder. "'I am not afraid of dying, he said on one of Phil Donahue's programs...it's how you live your life that counts,'" she continued. "Ryan's words are still teaching me and people around the world tolerance and to celebrate life."

The healing power of stories in real and Second Life® is the theme of this year's event bringing together the largest coalition of partners for a virtual WORLD AIDS Day celebration to date in SL.

"One of the mandates of the grant that funds Karuna is that we collect, preserve, and share stories," says Jena Ball, the Coordinator of Karuna and co-founder of TVWSP. "It is among the reasons we chose to celebrate the courageous life and story of Ryan White and created a virtual story tree, to honor his memory," she concluded.

For information on Ryan White, please visit the Indianapolis Children's Museum,
"The Power of Children: Making a Difference," www.childrensmuseum.org.

Medical Test Manufacturer Donates 4,500 HIV Test Kits

Chembio Diagnostics, Inc., a NY-based company that develops, manufactures, licenses and markets proprietary rapid diagnostic tests, is donating more than 4,500 rapid HIV test kits to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s 2009 Testing Millions Global Campaign, based in Los Angeles, to commemorate World AIDS Day 2009 on December 1st. Full story here.