Yahoo! Messenger IMVironment and Promotion Help Gather Signatures to Raise Global Support for AIDS Vaccine Research
SUNNYVALE, Calif. and NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Nov 29, 2001--When people log onto Yahoo!(R) Messenger (http://messenger.yahoo.com) during December, they can help in the global effort to find a vaccine for AIDS.
As part of worldwide recognition of World AIDS Day on December 1, Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet communications, commerce and media company, and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) are introducing a Yahoo! Messenger IMVironment(TM) and promotional campaign to gather signatures on the Global Call for Action for AIDS Vaccines.
This online petition, at http://www.iavi.org/callforaction, urges world leaders to speed the search for AIDS vaccines and assure they will be available to all who need them. IAVI will present the signatures at the XIV International AIDS Conference, July 2002 in Barcelona. People can join tens of thousands of others from around the world, including U2 singer and entertainer Bono, in signing the
petition.
``The only way to defeat this plague is with a vaccine. If we can put a man on the moon, we can do this too,`` said Bono. ``Sign the petition and tell world leaders to save millions of live.``
``AIDS awareness is one of the issues Yahoo! has committed resources towards supporting,`` said Murray Gaylord, vice president of brand marketing, Yahoo!. ``We are pleased to continue to work with IAVI and leverage our global network to help find an AIDS vaccine.`` Yahoo! is one of IAVI`s major corporate sponsors.
This week, UNAIDS announced that an additional five million men, women and children worldwide were infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in 2001. This brings the total people now living with HIV infection to 40 million.
``A preventive vaccine is the world`s best hope to stop the AIDS epidemic`s spread,`` said Dr. Seth Berkeley, M.D., president and CEO, IAVI. ``A vaccine is scientifically possible, but progress has been slowed by lack of political support. With the Global Call for Action, we hope to build momentum for the public and private sectors to step up their commitments to AIDS vaccines.``
Yahoo! and IAVI are introducing an AIDS Awareness IMVironment for Yahoo! Messenger, featuring a special design that highlight AIDS messages and direct people to IAVI`s website to sign the petition. The design was created on behalf of IAVI by San Francisco design firm Jennifer Sterling Design. Yahoo! Messenger IMVironments are interactive, themed backgrounds for Yahoo! Messenger conversations that appear directly in the instant messaging (IM) window, and are shared virally among friends.
In addition, Yahoo! will promote the Global Call for Action for AIDS Vaccines through a series of banner ads and text links that will appear throughout the Yahoo! network including Yahoo! Brazil, Yahoo! Canada, Yahoo! France, Yahoo! Japan, Yahoo! Mexico, Yahoo! Spain, and Yahoo! United Kingdom/Ireland.
About IAVI
The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is an international non-profit scientific organization founded in 1996 whose mission is to ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccines for use throughout the world. IAVI`s work focuses on four areas: creating global demand for AIDS vaccines through advocacy and education, accelerating scientific progress, encouraging industrial involvement in AIDS vaccine development, and assuring global access to a vaccine once it is developed. IAVI is a collaborating center of UNAIDS. IAVI`s major supporters include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation;, the Rockefeller, Sloan and Starr Foundations; the World Bank; and governments of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, the United States and Norway.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services to more than 218 million individuals each month worldwide. As the first online navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and reaches the largest audience worldwide. The company also provides online business and enterprise services designed to enhance the productivity and Web presence of Yahoo!`s clients. These services include Corporate Yahoo!, a popular customized enterprise portal solution; audio and video streaming; store hosting and management; and Web site tools and services. The company`s global Web network includes 24 World properties. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo! has offices in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia, Canada and the United States.
Yahoo!, Corporate Yahoo!, and the Yahoo! logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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