TackleAfrica Head of Fundraising and Development was invited to attend a match between UK Parliamentarians and a United Nations team to mark World AIDS day, and was presented with a signed England shirt.

The match was organised by HIVSport, one of TackleAfrica’s UK partners, to raise awareness of the HIV epidemic in the lead up to World AIDS day, and saw the touring United Nations Workers Football Team take on the  UK Parliamentary XI in the final match of a 4 game UK tour.   Despite deeply treacherous and snowy conditions, 22 brave souls took to the field and produced a remarkably high-quality 80 minutes of football, with the UN eventually triumphing by 4 goals to 1.

HIVSport, who also helped organise the ‘Keep a Clean Sheet’ campaign in the run up to the 2010 World Cup, formally donated an England shirt signed by World Cup squad members to TackleAfrica’s Tom Colborne.  The shirt has been auctioned to Durex and the money raised will go towards the development of the SportCares Leadership programme.

Following the event, both teams were transported back to Parliament on a bus organised by the Stop AIDS campaign, daubed with important messages to raise awareness of the global HIV pandemic.  

The day highlighted important issues such as the shortfall of the Millenium Goals in providing universal access to treatment by 2010.   Although access to ARVs has grown hugely in Africa over the last 5 years – largely due to the availability of cheap unpatented drugs manufactured in India, 63% of Africans in need of treatment in 2009 could not access medication.  This imbalance leads to millions of preventable deaths from AIDS-related illnesses every year.   Millions more babies will be born HIV positive due to the lack of available medication in Africa which has been proven to all but eliminate mother to child transmission in more developed regions.

To find out more about the latest UNAIDS update on the HIV pandemic, and how you can help, click here

One game saves lives

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