100,000 condoms distributed in Mexico City ahead of Valentine's Day

MEXICO CITY - Residents in Mexico's sprawling capital were encouraged to play it safe on Valentine's Day, as 100,000 condoms were distributed across the city's metro stations on Thursday in the run up to the annual love fest.

Dozens of volunteers, some dressed as garish-colored condoms, dished out packets of rubber protection across 24 metro stations as part of a campaign to prevent venereal diseases, rising HIV infections across Mexico and unwanted pregnancies.

Celebrating 'International Condom Day' on Feb. 13, sexual safety campaigners from AIDS Health Foundation (AHF) organization launched their campaign using the "Condom use is sexy" tagline.

"Unfortunately, every year, because of shame or misinformation, people are infected with various diseases," said Miriam Ruiz, head of the AIDS Rapid Testing Area at AHF.

Only 15 percent of Mexican couples use condoms, according to AHF, and the organization wants to break the "taboo" around the use of condoms.

The campaign resonated with many residents in Mexico City, which is home to nearly 9 million people, with over 21 million in its greater metropolitan area.

"I use condoms, but the truth is that there is still a lot of machismo in Mexico and men do not want to use a condom," said 23-year-old student Manuela Zepeda.

"I tell men: if you want (sex), put it on," she added, while showing the female condom that she had just been given.

Daily HIV infections increased to 44 from 33 per day between 2017 and 2018, according to Mexico's National Centre for the Prevention and Control of HIV and AIDS (Censida).

Lourdes Zamuro, a 63-year-old woman, took two strips.

"These condoms are for my grandchildren," she said in front of her smiling husband, Adrian Carrera, 65.

"Things were different before. We can't stop them having sex. Better to inform them and help them." 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Gay men seen dying from AIDS due to Africa's homophobic laws

NAIROBI - Thousands of gay men in Africa are likely dying from HIV-related illnesses every year due to homophobic laws that stifle their chances of being tested and treated, said researchers behind a study published on Monday in The Lancet HIV journal.

A study of the data of 45,000 gay men in 28 African countries including Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria found only one in four living with HIV were taking medication.

Half had taken an HIV/AIDS test in the past 12 months and researchers said the low rates were due to anti-LGBT+ laws in many African countries, which promoted stigma and discrimination and neglected HIV/AIDS programs targeting gay men.

"We found countries that had more repressive anti-LGBT laws or harsher penalties for same sex relations had lower levels of HIV testing," said Kate Mitchell, one of the researchers at Imperial College London who was involved in the study.

"Some of the studies suggested that this was due to stigma. More research is required to see whether, if these laws were repealed, more gay men would be tested and treated."

According to the United Nations, about 470,000 people living with HIV in Africa still die every year because they cannot or do not get tested and gain access to treatment, accounting for more than 60 percent of all global HIV-related deaths.

While there are no official figures on the number of deaths of men who have sex with men (MSM), Mitchell said it would be fair to estimate that thousands of gay men who were unaware or unable to get medication were dying every year.

African countries have some of the world's most prohibitive laws governing homosexuality. Same-sex relationships are considered taboo and gay sex is a crime across most of continent, with punishments ranging from imprisonment to death.

A 2019 report by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association found 32 African countries out of a total of 54 nations criminalize same sex relations. South Africa is the only African nation to legalize gay marriage.

Gay rights groups say the laws promote homophobia across the continent and are used daily to persecute and discriminate against sexual minorities who face prejudice in getting jobs, renting housing or seeking medical care or education.

Hate crimes like blackmail, extortion, physical and sexual assault are common - but most are too fearful to go to the police due to their sexual orientation, say rights groups.

"Globally, men who have sex with men are about 28 times more likely to be living with HIV than men in the general population, an inequality that is particularly apparent in sub-Saharan Africa, where the human rights of MSM are often violated," said the study.

"These attitudes also create barriers to implementing effective HIV research, policy and health programs for MSM, through prohibition of activism and research, arbitrary arrests of health-care providers, and disruption of services provided by community-based and non-governmental organisations."

LGBT+ rights campaigners in Kenya, where gay sex is punishable by up to 14 years in jail, said they were not surprised by the results of the study.

"It is true the law makes if very difficult for MSM to seek medical treatment. Many people fear they will be outed or face some kind of abuse or be shamed by insensitive medical practitioners," said Andrew Maina, program coordinator at HIVOS.

"If these anti-gay laws are scrapped, there will be more openness, more advocacy and more awareness of the issue. Gay men living with HIV would be able to seek medical care knowing they will be treated with respect and dignity."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

This red burger is juicy and spicy and contributes to the fight against HIV and AIDS

And you may only get a taste of it when you’re above the clouds. AirAsia changes its menu every quarter, so people can have something to look forward to the next time they fly. This season’s star is the INSPI(RED) Burger. 10% of sales from each burger will go directly to HIV/AIDS programs in ASEAN.

Gone are the days when airline food is equivalent to tasteless and unappetizing dishes. These days, every airline company is outdoing each other in making an impressive menu for its passengers, from the luxury airlines to low-cost ones like Malaysian airline, AirAsia. The latest addition to its in-flight menu is the INSPI(RED) Burger.

In an effort to improve the dining experience of their passengers, AirAsia partnered with one of the most popular Thai chefs in the United States, Chef Hong Thaimee. Chef Hong’s role in the partnership was to create a dish that would resonate with the airline’s diverse guests.

More on healthy living:

• Healthy gourmet fare still abounds in haute cuisine
• How functional medicine may finally set you free from maintenance meds
• Beat up athletes looking to recover quickly should check out this reemerging treatment
• Men-approved: four healthy dishes that every guy can enjoy

“We’re a regional carrier, so we want to give our customers a flavor of the Asian experience,” Gilbert Simpao, chief commercial officer for AirAsia Philippines, tells ANCX, during the launch of INSPI(RED) Burger, at the Amorita Resorts in Panglao, Bohol. “AirAsia contacted Chef Hong because she’s a very famous and successful chef. We gave her leeway, so she could use her background, experience, and passion to create something wonderful.”

The result is a juicy, tangy, homemade burger, with a chicken patty steeped in fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass. The patty is flanked by two beetroot-flavored, red brioche buns. The shredded purple cabbage and seedless tomatoes add flavor to the burger. Its best ingredient, though, is the Nam Prink Noom Mayo, a green chili mayonnaise, which Chef Hong borrowed from her grandmother.

Born in Chaingmai, Thailand, Chef Hong moved to New York City 12 years ago to jumpstart her career as a chef, after gaining success as a model and business executive in Bangkok City, Thailand. In The Big Apple, she gained work experience by taking jobs at several restaurants, before she decided to open her own place, called Ngam, which served modern Thai food. Through traveling the world and being exposed to different people, Chef Hong became a humanitarian activist, inspirational speaker, and author.

When she sealed her partnership with AirAsia, she asked the almost-two-decade-old airline if they wanted to support her advocacy of supporting people with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). She also wanted to raise awareness of the disease. The airline company happily agreed.

Coincidentally, in 2018, AirAsia already started a partnership with RED, a licensed brand that collaborates with the private sectors to support and fund initiatives that are related to HIV and AIDS awareness and eradication.

Simpao says, “Everything kind of goes full-circle. The organization RED is a partner. AirAsia’s color is red. And our new burger by our partner chef is red. We do hope this makes an impact and a significant contribution to our fight against HIV and AIDS.”  

For this initiative, 10% of the sales from each INSPI(RED) burger will go directly to the HIV/AIDS programs in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

One of AirAsia’s goals is to bring Filipino cuisine to a wider audience. For their new menu, they’ve put a twist to the classic adobo by serving it with java rice and bananas on the side.

The best-sellers include the famous beef tapa with scrambled eggs, chicken teriyaki, nasi lemak, and chicken rice. Recently, they launched the Manila-Osaka flight and coming up with more Japanese dishes is part of the agenda.

“We don’t want to settle,” Simpao says when asked what’s behind the menu upgrade. “Airlines is a very tough business. Any edge we can have over our competition—or course, low fares are important—but a great in-flight experience can also give us the edge. One part of the experience is having good meals onboard. The meals are not bundled into the price of the fare. If we want the passengers to pay extra, we have to make sure that we give them food that is worth their hard-earned money.”

source: news.abs-cbn.com

UN appoints new HIV/AIDS chief after controversy

UNITED NATIONS, United States—United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed a new HIV/AIDS chief on Wednesday after the previous incumbent left accused of serious mismanagement.

Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima of Uganda will lead UNAIDS, a spokesperson for Guterres said in a statement.

She succeeds Michel Sidibe who stepped down in May after he was accused of creating "a patriarchal culture tolerating harassment and abuse of authority."

An Independent Expert Panel (IEP) report commissioned by UNAIDS's governing body said the agency's culture under Sidibe also failed "to uphold the United Nations' laws and values."

Sidibe left UNAIDS after a decade-long tenure to become Mali's health minister.

Guterres continued to praise Sidibe despite his being reprimanded for mishandling a sexual assault investigation involving one of his top deputies.

Sidibe's divisive era led AIDS experts to voice concern over the future of the UN body, which UNAIDS leads a global effort to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

In the statement announcing Byanyima's appointment, Guterres said she "brings a wealth of experience and commitment in harnessing the power of government, multilateral agencies, the private sector and civil society to end the HIV and AIDS crisis for communities around the world."

Byanyima, 60, said she was "honored" to be joining UNAIDS "at such a critical time in the response to HIV."

AIDS-related illnesses have killed 35 million people since the first cases were reported more than 35 years ago.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

New cases of HIV rise in Eastern Europe, decline in the West

LONDON -- More than 130,000 people were newly diagnosed with HIV last year in Eastern Europe, the highest rate ever for the region, while the number of new cases in Western Europe declined, global public health experts said on Wednesday.

European Union and European Economic Area countries saw a reduction in 2017 rates, mainly driven by a 20 percent drop since 2015 among men who have sex with men. That left Europe's overall increasing trend less steep than previously.

All told, almost 160,000 people were diagnosed in Europe with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional office for Europe.

"It's hard to talk about good news in the face of another year of unacceptably high numbers of people infected with HIV," said Zsuzsanna Jakab, director of the WHO regional office. Calling on governments and health officials to recognize the seriousness of the situation, she urged them: "Scale up your response now."

The United Nations AIDS agency UNAIDS warned in July that complacency was starting to stall the fight against the global epidemic, with the pace of progress not matching what is needed. Some 37 million people worldwide are infected with HIV.

The WHO's European Region is made up of 53 countries with a combined population of nearly 900 million. Around 508 million of those live in the 28 member states of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The joint report said one reason for the persistence of HIV in Europe is that many people infected with the virus are diagnosed late, meaning they are more likely to have already passed it on and are also at an advanced stage of infection.

It also found that in the European region, men suffer disproportionately from HIV, with 70 percent of new HIV cases diagnosed in 2017 occurring in men.

Since the start of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, more than 77 million people worldwide have become infected with HIV. Almost half of them - 35.4 million - have died of AIDS. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

iPhone 8 gets refresh with red color option

MANILA - Apple refreshed its iPhone 8 line on Tuesday with a red color option, adding it to a range of products wherein a portion of sales will be used to fund the fight the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Cupertino, California-based Apple is giving its iPhones a scarlet hue mid-way into its release cycle for the second year in a row. Unlike the red iPhone 7 and 7 Plus which had white fronts, the red iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have black fronts.

Apple did not announce a red color option for the pricier iPhone X. The company is expected to release new iPhones by the fourth quarter.

With the Product (RED) line of iPhones, iPods and accessories, Apple said it raised so far $160 million for HIV/AIDS research.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

World AIDS Day

An Indian NGO volunteer lights candles placed on the ground in the shape of a red ribbon during an awareness rally on the eve of World Aids Day in Agartala, the capital of northeastern state of Tripura on Thursday.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Britain's Prince Harry tested for HIV

LONDON - Britain's Prince Harry underwent an HIV test on Thursday to raise awareness about combating the virus.

Harry has made highlighting the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS a major part of his public work, continuing the efforts of his late mother, Diana, princess of Wales.

Harry, fifth in line to the throne, declared he was "nervous" before the test -- a finger-prick procedure conducted at a London sexual health clinic.

The 31-year-old's test came back negative.

Ian Green, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust charity, which campaigns on HIV and AIDS issues, called it a "groundbreaking moment in the fight against HIV" which would help normalise testing.

Diana helped to break down the stigma surrounding HIV back in 1987 when she held an AIDS patient's hand.

"I can understand the fear; I cannot get my head around the stigma part," Harry said.

"Twenty years ago I could understand it, but now?"

Harry highlighted what he saw as the general view of HIV testing.

"The thinking seems to be: 'why do I need to get tested?'," the prince said.

The latest data from Public Health England show in 2014 there were an estimated 103,700 people living with HIV/AIDS in Britain, with 17 percent of these not aware of their infection.

Next week Harry will speak at an international AIDS conference in South Africa and share the stage with pop star Elton John, a leading AIDS campaigner.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Alcoholism drug may help design HIV cure: study

PARIS - A treatment for alcoholism can reactivate dormant HIV, potentially allowing other drugs to spot and kill the virus hiding out in human immune cells, researchers said Tuesday.

The medication, called Disulfiram, draws out the AIDS-causing virus without any side effects for patients, according to a study published in The Lancet.

In people undergoing treatment for AIDS, the virus can take cover in certain cells and hide away, only to reemerge once therapy is stopped.

This latency has been one of the biggest hurdles in developing a cure.

"Waking up" the virus - and then destroying it -- is a promising strategy for ridding patients of HIV.

But other drugs which are able to rouse HIV from its dormant state are toxic to humans.

In clinical trials led by Sharon Lewin, a professor at the University of Melbourne, 30 people on antiretroviral treatment (ART) were given increasing doses of Disulfiram over a period of three days.

At the highest dose, there was evidence of slumbering HIV being stimulated, with no side effects.

"This trial clearly demonstrates that Disulfiram is not toxic and is safe to use, and could quite possibly be the game changer we need," Lewin said in a statement.

The next step will be to test Disulfiram's rousing effect in combination with a virus-killing drug.

"Waking up the virus is only the first step to eliminating it," said the study's lead author Julian Elliott, head of clinical research in the department of infectious diseases at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

"Now we need to work out how to get rid of the infected cell."

Approximately 34 million people have died of HIV-related causes worldwide. By the end of 2014, there were an estimated 36.9 people living with HIV globally.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

North Korea says it has 'cure' for MERS, Ebola, AIDS

SEOUL - North Korea says it has developed a vaccine that is "very effective" in treating MERS, Ebola and AIDS, the state mouthpiece KCNA reported, as well as a range of other diseases that modern medicine is yet to find a cure for.

The drug, known as Kumdang-2, is reportedly able to treat everything from AIDS to tuberculosis and cancer, as well as "harm from the use of computers" and morning sickness, according to the drug's website.

The isolated country's news agency KCNA is notorious for making hyperbolic claims about North Korea's achievements -- from scientific breakthroughs to the sporting prowess of its leaders -- and has previously trumpeted the efficacy of the drug.

Developed by North Korea's Pugang Pharmaceutic Company -- and promoted under the tag line "Everyone has the right to be healthy" -- the vaccine is made of extracts from ginseng with the injection of rare earth elements, KCNA said.

"The Kumdang-2 injection, a strong immune activator, which is produced in DPRK (North Korea), is very effective in curing diseases caused by malignant viruses such as SARS, Ebola and MERS," said the report.

The impoverished communist state, known to have a weak health infrastructure, claims to have been testing this cure-all drug since 1989.

South Korea is currently battling with an outbreak of MERS, which has killed 24 people while 166 cases have been confirmed -- the largest outbreak of the disease outside Saudi Arabia.

North Korea has taken drastic measures in the past to guard against viral diseases, and it has recently intensified screening and vowed "watertight" measures at airports and border crossings to ward off the MERS virus.

Last year it imposed a four-month ban on foreign tourists, purportedly due to concern over the spread of the Ebola virus.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

9 in 10 Pinoys say gays, lesbians have right to be protected - SWS

MANILA, Philippines - Nearly nine in 10 Filipinos believe gays and lesbians have the right to be protected against any form of discrimination, a 2013 survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed.

To the statement “Just like me, gays and lesbians also have the right to be protected against any form of discrimination,” 85 percent of 1,200 respondents agreed, five percent disagreed, and 10 percent were undecided.

Results of the survey, conducted from June 28 to 30, 2013 and Sept. 20 to 23, 2013 were released by SWS only yesterday.

Meanwhile, the SWS survey conducted in September showed that 67 percent of Filipinos claimed that gays and lesbians are trustworthy, while only 18 percent said otherwise. The remaining 14 percent were undecided about this matter.

The same survey also found 54 percent of respondents saying that gays and lesbians have contributed a lot to societal progress, while 24 percent of them disagreed.

For a little over half or 54 percent of Filipinos, being gay or lesbian is not a form of mental illness. However, 25 percent said otherwise, the June 2013 survey showed.

Forty-five percent of respondents also disagreed to the statement that being gay or lesbian is contagious. About four in 10 respondents (38 percent) agreed to the statement, while 16 percent were undecided.

The September 2013 survey also found 45 percent of respondents claiming that AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) can be considered a sickness of gays and lesbians. Thirty-three percent disagreed and 21 percent were undecided.

Read more on Philippine Star

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

AIDS campaigners say pandemic has finally reached tipping point

LONDON - The world has finally reached "the beginning of the end" of the AIDS pandemic that has infected and killed millions in the past 30 years, according to a leading campaign group fighting HIV.

The number of people newly infected with HIV over the last year was lower than the number of HIV-positive people who joined those getting access to the medicines they need to take for life to keep AIDS at bay.

But in a report to mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, the ONE campaign, an advocacy group working to end poverty and preventable disease in Africa, warned that reaching this milestone did not mean the end of AIDS was around the corner.

"We've passed the tipping point in the AIDS fight at the global level, but not all countries are there yet, and the gains made can easily stall or unravel," said Erin Hohlfelder, ONE's director of global health policy.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS is spread via blood, semen and breast milk. There is no cure for the infection, but AIDS can be kept at bay for many years with cocktails of antiretroviral drugs.

United Nations data show that in 2013, 35 million people were living with HIV, 2.1 million people were newly infected with the virus and some 1.5 million people died of AIDS. By far the greatest part of the HIV/AIDS burden is in sub-Saharan Africa.

The AIDS pandemic began more than 30 years ago and has killed up to 40 million people worldwide.

The United Nations AIDS agency, UNAIDS, says that, by June 2014, some 13.6 million people globally had access to AIDS drugs, a dramatic improvement on the 5 million who were getting treatment in 2010.

"Despite the good news, we should not take a victory lap yet," said Hohlfelder.

She highlighted several threats to current progress, including a $3 billion shortfall in the funds needed each year to control HIV around the world.

"We want to see bold new funding from a more diversified base, including more from African domestic budgets," she said.

ONE also noted that HIV is increasingly concentrated among hard-to-reach populations such as injecting drug users, gay men and sex workers - groups who are often stigmatised and have trouble accessing treatment and prevention services.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

HIV's infection tactics could guide AIDS vaccine, study finds

WASHINGTON - New research that sheds light on the methods and machinery used by HIV to infect cells provides insight into the tricky virus that potentially could guide the development of a vaccine against the virus that causes AIDS, according to U.S. government and other scientists.

Separate studies published on Wednesday describe in detail the structure and dynamics of the spike on the surface of the human immunodeficiency virus that it employs to fuse with and enter cells.

The researchers expressed hope that the information can provide a road map for a potential vaccine designed to keep the spike in a "closed" state to prevent the virus from successfully infecting cells.

"We can expect a lot of activities being devoted to that goal," Yale University virologist Walther Mothes, one of the researchers, said, calling the new findings "a major step forward for drug and vaccine design."

Another researcher, structural biologist Jason Gorman of the Vaccine Research Center at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, expressed optimism "that this new information will pave the way for a vaccine. Of course, there are always many barriers to overcome."

The research, published in the journals Nature and Science, may point to a way through a vaccine or perhaps new drugs to enable the immune system - the body's natural defense system - to zero in on HIV and block its ability to infect cells.

The research revealed the detailed structure of the spikes on the surface of HIV as well as details on how the spike rearranges itself into three different configurations.

Three sets of a pair of molecules make up each spike, and the spike alters its shape before and during cell binding, the researchers said. The configuration that the spikes most often assume is the "closed" state, which is particularly difficult for the immune system to detect. But in that form the spike also has difficulty infecting a cell.

The spikes need to be in their "open" state in order to fuse with a cell and infect it. But that state exposes parts of the virus that may be more vulnerable to antibodies, the protective proteins produced by the immune system in response to an invader like a virus.

As a result, the spike usually takes its "closed" form and opens for a short time, making it hard for the immune system to find and attack the virus, the researchers said. A class of antibodies called "broadly neutralizing antibodies" are able to keep the spike closed and curb further cell infection by HIV but are rarely found in HIV-infected people.

Scientists have tried for decades to develop a safe and effective vaccine to prevent AIDS, caused by HIV infection. HIV is complex and extremely changeable, thwarting the immune system at nearly every turn.

Gorman said the work provided atomic-level details of the full spike that are critical for allowing scientists to try to deprive it of its flexibility "and lock it into the closed state that elicits and is recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Elton John to pen personal story about AIDS

LONDON — Elton John will write a personal account of his life during the AIDS epidemic, including his friendship with Queen frontman Freddie Mercury who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1991 aged 45.

The "Rocket Man" musician founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation around 20 years ago to raise funds to help fight the disease, and proceeds from "LOVE IS THE CURE: Ending the Global AIDS Epidemic" will go to the charity.

In a statement released on Monday, publishers Hodder & Stoughton promised a "very personal story of... Elton's life during the AIDS epidemic, including his agony at seeing friend after friend perish needlessly."

Among the individuals it describes are Mercury and Ryan White, an American boy who became a "poster child" for HIV/AIDS after he was banned by a school because of his condition.

According to reports at the time, John was with White when he died in a US hospital in 1990 aged 18.

"This is a disease that must be cured not by a miraculous vaccine, but by changing hearts and minds, and through a collective effort to break down social barriers and to build bridges of compassion," John said.

"Why are we not doing more? This is a question I have thought deeply about, and wish to answer — and to help change — by writing this book."

An estimated 34 million people worldwide had the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS in 2010, up 17 percent from 2001 when 28.6 million were living with HIV.

According to the Hodder statement, HIV/AIDS has claimed 60 million lives.

Hodder & Stoughton acquired LOVE IS THE CURE with US sister company Little, Brown and Company.

It is due to be published in July 2012 to coincide with the 2012 XIX International AIDS Conference to be held in Washington DC. — Reuters

source:gmanetwork.com

Unicef auctions off Manny Baldemor paintings

MANILA, Philippines - UNICEF Philippines and eBay Philippines launch their second online fundraising campaign through UNICEF Auction for Action: The Manny Baldemor Sabrosa Series until Dec. 11 at www.ebay.ph/unicef.

As one of the featured artists in the first UNICEF Auction for Action last May, UNICEF visual artist Manny Baldemor once again shares his generous talent for the benefit of UNICEF programs for children in the Philippines and worldwide.

“I have received so many blessings that it’s only right to share and give back. Children’s welfare has always been close to my heart and that’s why I work with UNICEF Philippines because they help children in the poorest and most disadvantaged areas,” shares Baldemor.

The Sabrosa series was conceived during Baldemor’s art residency in Sabrosa, Portugal earlier this year. Located in the northern part of Portugal, the municipality of Sabrosa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also the birthplace of Ferdinand Magellan, the first European navigator who reached Philippine shores in 1521.

The series of landscapes was inspired when Baldemor took a boat ride down the great river Duoro, “I took a glance upwards as we passed a steep incline and saw vineyards of different levels that would make our own famous Rice Terraces look like anthills. It was awesome. I’ve never seen layers and layers of vines in a gigantic mountain that almost touches the sky… I wondered if the vineyards were already there 500 years ago when Ferdinand Magellan trekked from this mountain of vines, down to the River Duoro to the Atlantic and finally to the Pacific Ocean,” he says.

UNICEF Country Representative Vanessa Tobin shares, “UNICEF thanks Manny Baldemor for being a staunch supporter having lent his iconic designs to UNICEF cards and products and holding exhibitions of paintings for the benefit of our programs for children. Proceeds from the online auction of the Sabrosa series will go towards our work for street children programs.”

Auction for Action: The Manny Baldemor Sabrosa Series on www.ebay.ph/unicef is live and will run for seven days until Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. Watch out for this exclusive auction and help make a difference for children.

UNICEF is on the ground in over 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.

In the Philippines for over 60 years, UNICEF works through partners to reach disadvantaged children and communities to ensure children are healthy, educated and protected from harm. UNICEF is quick to respond in emergencies to ensure affected communities are reached and provided with services from local governments and other service providers.

source: philstar.com