AIDS Activists Board "Keep the Promise" Trains to D.C. for March on Washington

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hundreds of HIV/AIDS activists throughout the U.S. South, Southeast, Midwest and Northeast will board eight "Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS" trains?sponsored by the largest global AIDS organization AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)?headed to Washington D.C. to participate in the "Keep the Promise on HIV/AIDS" March on Washington on Sunday, July 22nd at 2:00pm at the Washington Monument just prior to the opening ceremonies of the XIX International AIDS Conference.

In total, nearly eight hundred AHF-sponsored advocates will board eight Amtrak trains throughout Friday and Saturday?from New Orleans, Louisiana; Toledo, Ohio; Newport News, Virginia; Providence, Rhode Island; Miami, Florida; New York, New York; Charlotte, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia?to take part in the march and let their voices be heard on the most pressing national HIV/AIDS access issues, including the U.S. AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting lists. A funding crisis has left nearly 2,000 Americans in 9 states languishing on waiting lists, hoping to access lifesaving AIDS medications.

Thousands are expected to participate in the "Keep the Promise" march?an historic march which seeks to bring attention to the need for the U.S. and countries around the world to "Keep the Promise" on HIV/AIDS at a time when many nations?including the U.S.?are retreating on funding commitments, threatening to reverse thirty years of progress.

The march will begin at the Washington Monument with a program that includes a performance by musician and activist Wyclef Jean. Joining him onstage will be keynote speaker former U.S. Congressman Ambassador Andrew Young, civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton, broadcaster and author Tavis Smiley, prominent democratic intellectual Dr. Cornel West and?in a special message from South Africa?the highly-regarded human rights activist and Nobel Peace Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Comedienne Margaret Cho will serve as host.

Spearheaded by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the "Keep the Promise" coalition includes a broad group of like-minded supporters from across the U.S. and around the world. 1,432 organizations from 103 countries and 2,333 individuals have signed on in support of the March and the "Keep the Promise" Declaration.

"We are so excited to welcome these hundreds of advocates to Washington D.C., as it is their voices that needs to be heard by leaders in Washington and the world over with the message that the war on AIDS has not been won," said Terri Ford, AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Senior Director of Global Policy and Advocacy and the lead organizer of the march.

The ?Keep the Promise' rally and march will serve as a clarion call for universal access to AIDS care and treatment; for more efficient use of the limited funding from sources including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the U.S. AIDS Drug Assistance Program; for big world economies and the G20 to fully fund the Global Fund as well as for the lowering of AIDS drug prices by pharmaceutical companies to allow for the treatment of more patients with the same amount of money.

More information about the "Keep the Promise" coalition and March can be found at www.keepthepromise2012.org and by following the group on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/keepthepromise2012) and on Twitter @AIDSMarch2012.

To view a complete list of organizations that have signed on to "Keep the Promise" Declaration, please click here.

About AIDS Healthcare Foundation

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 176,756 individuals in 27 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare.