Press Releases 2006

November 30, 2006

First time in India - Photo Exhibition on lives saved by Anti-Retroviral Treatment and HIV/AIDS Care

NEW DELHI -- A unique photo exhibition of people living healthy and transformed lives after undergoing HIV/AIDS treatment was inaugurated at The American Center today to observe World AIDS Day on December 1.

The exhibition, the first of its kind in India, is entitled "Photos of Hope: Lives Saved and Transformed." It will run at The American Center December 1-16, and will travel throughout India during 2007.
 
Inaugurating the exhibition, U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Geoffrey Pyatt said, "December 1 is World AIDS Day, a day when people around the world take stock of the progress being made in one of the greatest global challenges of our time.  We must stop the continued spread of HIV-AIDS - for which there is as yet no cure - and ease the lives of those suffering from it."
  
The American Center has collaborated with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a leading American NGOs, to create this photo exhibit of men, women and children thriving on HIV/AIDS care and antiretroviral treatment provided through several of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's free treatment clinics in India and the U.S.

The exhibition focuses on people who are living healthy, transformed lives through treatment, care and support. It strives to reduce the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and demonstrates the importance of getting tested.

Dr. Chinkholal Thangsing, Asia Pacific Bureau Chief for AIDS Healthcare Foundation and some of the HIV positive people featured in the photographs also attended the ceremony.  Several of the Indian portrait subjects shared their stories of survival and hope in-person.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Thangsing said: "This exhibit puts a human face on the promise that treatment can bring to people living with HIV/AIDS when they have access to medical care and lifesaving antiretroviral therapies."