UNAIDS: Footballers Ballack and Adebayor Launch New Public Service Announcement Against AIDS
Premier League footballers Michael Ballack from Chelsea and Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor might be rivals on the pitch but they're team up against AIDS off the pitch. Their popularity will help UNAIDS convey strong messages around the fact that the AIDS epidemic is still rife all over the world, with an estimated 33 million people living with HIV and 2.7 million new HIV infections in 2008.
Talking about welcoming Adebayor's involvement in the campaign, Michael Ballack said that it was "To show the people that everybody needs to take responsibility not just me or Emmanuel - everyone can help"
Emmanuel commented " For me joining Michael on this I think is very important because I know the popularity of football and I know what football means to all the people who love the game and love sport. So for me, to be honest today we are not talking about rivals we are talking about what we can do to help people."
Emmanuel Adebayor was asked: what's your reaction to news that there are still HIV positive patients unable to receive treatment due to the high cost of patented anti-retroviral drugs
"To be honest, I'm really upset with that because those are the things that I can't understand because we know that on both sides rich people can have aids poor people can have aids so they have to try I'm begging them with all my god to try their best to make it less money so every single person can buy it"
" We know every single day, today, tomorrow after tomorrow, every
single day that we live, five thousand five hundred people are dying of AIDS and I think we have to try and I think we need the help of everyone to make that
happen "
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