HIV/AIDS Awareness: German Cycling Team Aims for New Record
PAHO and Joachim Franz Team Up to Conquer the World’s Longest Road
Washington, D.C., August 25, 2005 (PAHO)—The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is supporting a unique initiative to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Americas, by a group of German cyclists determined to set a world record along the Pan American Highway.
Team Joachim Franz kicks off their 23,000-kilometer Pan American AIDS Awareness Expedition, in Deadhorse, Alaska, Aug. 12.
The Team Joachim Franz, well known in the global HIV/AIDS awareness community, is receiving support from PAHO and its member countries throughout the hemisphere as the team’s six cyclists try to conquer the world’s longest road in 35 days.
The record-breaking effort began with a departure from Alaska on August 12, and if all goes according to schedule, the cyclists will reach Ushuaia, the hemisphere’s southernmost town, on September 18.
Accompanied by a caravan of supporters, team members are tackling their goal by taking two-hour turns at the wheels day and night, averaging 700 kilometers a day. The objective of their non-stop, 23,000-kilometer odyssey is to win the Pan American consciousness over to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“PAHO wholeheartedly endorses the awareness efforts led by Joachim. They represent the road ahead, our challenge and our commitment to implementing solutions and to keep fighting the pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Carol Vlassoff, chief of PAHO’s HIV/AIDS program.
The Aids Awareness Expedition 2005 departed from Deadhorse, Alaska, at 9 a.m. August 12, led by Germany’s Joachim Franz, an extreme sportsman and Volkswagen employee. “We have a long way to go, and go we will. We cannot lose the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Franz reminded his team.
As the team heads south, local HIV/AIDS activists and organizations, joined by national and international institutions, are gearing up to greet team members and provide them with support along their route.
Among the supporters are staff from PAHO country offices in El Salvador and Costa Rica, who are preparing to provide care and welcome packages and planning special initiatives to support the team. At PAHO headquarters in Washington, D.C., HIV/AIDS program chief Vlassoff called on all PAHO country offices to contribute to this historic effort to keep HIV/AIDS a top public health priority in the Americas.
More than 1.7 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America. In 2004, some 95,000 people in the region died of AIDS, and 240,000 became newly infected. Some 610,000 women are currently living with HIV in the region. Two countries, Guatemala and Honduras, have national adult HIV prevalence rates of over 1 percent. Brazil accounts for more than one third of the people living with HIV in Latin America.
Vlassoff notes that PAHO and Team Joachim Franz share important objectives. “Both have been working to support the countries in their response to the HIV epidemic, both encourage physical activity as an integral part of a healthy lifestyle, and both see regional integration as an opportunity to advance these issues.”
“I have been in many countries doing adventure travel,” said Franz. “Everywhere I have seen the effects of HIV/AIDS, and the children are those who suffer most. There are millions of children without parents in all continents because of it.” “I am the proud father of a team of over 200 volunteers that since 1999 have worked internationally against HIV/AIDS and its collateral effects. This year is the Pan American Aids Awareness Expedition 2005, and I will not take a turn away from that road.”
Before embarking, the expedition named British singer Elton John as its “world patron.” “We are very pleased that we were able to get Sir Elton John to take on the world patronage of the Pan Americana. We could not have found a better ambassador,” said Franz. The expedition is sponsored in part by the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS).
PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world’s oldest public health organization. It is also the Regional Offices for the Americas of the World Health Organization and works with the countries to improve the health and the living standards of the people of the Americas.
Team Joachim Franz
Schedule of Press Conferences
August 26, 9 a.m.
Puebla, Mexico – with VW, PAHO, German Embassy
August 27, 11 a.m.
Guatemala – with PAHO, German Embassy
August 28, 9 a.m.
San Salvador, El Salvador – with PAHO, German Embassy
August 29, 11AM
León, Nicaragua – with PAHO, German Embassy
August 30, 9 a.m.
San José, Costa Rica – with PAHO, German Embassy
September 1, 11 a.m.
Panama – with PAHO, German Embassy
(Scheduled times are subject to change)
Press conferences are also being planned for Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina.
Links of interest
Pan American Health Organization (HIV/AIDS program)
Official site of the Pan Americana Expedition 2005
World Health Organization (HIV Infection)
UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme for HIV/AIDS)
PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world’s oldest public health organization. PAHO works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of people of the Americas. It serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).
PAHO Member States today include all 35 countries in the Americas. France, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are Participating States. Portugal and Spain are Observer States, and Puerto Rico is an Associate Member.
For more information please contact , PAHO, Public Information, 202-974-3699.