The NBA (National Basketball Association)/FIBA (International Basketball Federation) players, led by Yao Ming, star center of the Houston Pockets, Tony Parker(San Antonio Spurs), Bostjan Nachbar (New Orleans Hornets), Samuel Dalembert and Kyle Korver (Philadephia 76ers) came to Tsinghua on July 17 to participate in an HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which was jointly organized by the NBA, FIBA and Tsinghua, as part of the ongoing effort to help raise HIV/AIDS awareness and education in China.
Yao and the NBA/FIBA players met with 30 Chinese children from the Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation, some of them HIV positive and others orphaned by AIDS. The children shared some of their stories about how HIV/AIDS had impacted their lives, and later the players and children exchanged gifts and shared lunch with a group of participates including renowned AIDS scientist Dr. David Ho, China’s AIDS ambassador Pu Cunxin.
Later that afternoon, Professor Jing Jun, Director of AIDS Policy Research Center in Tsinghua and Professor Li Xiguang, Vice Dean of School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua, together with 10 students from Tsinghua University led a life skills seminar on adolescent health and HIV/AIDS prevention for the 50 Basketball Without Borders camp participants from 15 countries and territories across Asia.
Yao’s personal support and appearance builds on previous HIV/AIDS awareness efforts by the NBA, notably a Public Service television announcement he made with NBA Legend, Earvin “Magic” Johnson to highlight the importance of compassion toward people affected by HIV. That campaign, broadcast during the historic NBA China games last October and during the NBA games throughout the 2004-05 season reached hundreds of millions of at-risk youth in China.
In the past few years, Tsinghua University has been actively collaborating with domestic and international organizations to fight against AIDS by using the strength in applied research and professional training. On November 10, 2003, the University organized an “AIDS and SARS Summit”. Its keynote speakers were former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Chinese-American scientist David Ho, and three top officials from the Chinese government.
Reported by Li Han
