On Monday (June 6), celebrity philanthropist Annie Lennox joined more than 30 mayors and health officials from around the world to discuss a new Fast-Track Cities Initiative aimed to end HIV/AIDS on a city-by-city level by 2030.
As the UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, Annie shared her vision for a world without HIV/AIDS and the epidemic’s disproportionate impact on women and girls.
“We are now at a crucial point where we have the ability to end the AIDS epidemic once and for all in our lifetime. This is the time to drive things through, otherwise all the gains we have made will be reversed. We need action now – more than ever,” said Annie Lennox. "Today’s UNAIDS meeting on “Fast Tracking” the end of AIDS offers an historic opportunity to bring together representatives of cities from all over the Globe to bring about the change we desperately need to see."
“Today offers a unique opportunity to partner and explore how we can work together to educate, treat and prevent the spread of HIV, and here in New York City, we echo those efforts through our work, including increased funding for HIV/AIDS prevention services and health care” said Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio. “We are deeply proud of this work, but we must do more — I commend Mayor Hidalgo and the other mayors of great cities involved for their partnership in the global response to HIV.”
“The tools, experience and knowledge needed to end the AIDS epidemic exist,” said Nancy Mahon, Global Executive Director of the MAC AIDS Fund and SVP of Global Philanthropy, Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability for The Estée Lauder Companies. “Building upon more than two decades of investments in local responses to end AIDS, the MAC AIDS Fund has scaled up our commitment to cities – investing over $6 million in targeted efforts like the Fast-Track Cities Initiative and local public-private partnerships in New York City, San Francisco, Paris and beyond. MAC Cosmetics and the MAC AIDS Fund are deeply invested in supporting men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.”
