AIDS in Asia: Past Events

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Information on the Asia Society, its programs, publications, exhibitions, regional centers, membership, and more.

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Past Events

04.24.07
Facilitating Access to Affordable Medicine
Panel Discussion co-sponsored with Oxfam
New York
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03.06.07
Dr. Gao Yaojie, HIV/AIDS Activist
Breakfast Meeting and Discussion
New York
Video interview with Dr. Gao Yaojie
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02.06.07
Motherland Afghanistan
Film Screening and Discussion
New York
Listen to interview with filmmaker Sedika Mojadidi
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02.02.07
Anurupa Roy, Puppeteer and HIV/AIDS Educator
Lunch and Discussion
New York
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12.01.06
The Blood Of Yingzhou District
Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Hong Kong Center
In the Hong Kong premiere of this moving documentary, we follow a year in the life of several children in the villages of Anhui Province, China, who have lost their parents to AIDS. The film, which won a Grand Jury Award at the American Film Institute's Silverdocs Film Festival, investigates how traditional obligations to family and village collide with widespread terror and prejudice against the disease in rural China and the region. Originally from Hong Kong, award-winning director and editor Ruby Yang has explored a range of Chinese themes in films such as Citizen Hong Kong (1997), Xiu Xiu, The Sent Down Girl (1998), and Becoming American—The Chinese Experience. Lambert Yam joined us for the post-screening discussion. Mr. Yam is currently based in Beijing with the China AIDS Media Project, which commissioned The Blood of Yingzhou District, and worked closely with his wife Ruby Yang on the documentary. He is a pioneer in distributing and exhibiting feature films from Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan in North America and has served on the board of the San Francisco Film Festival for nine years.

11.28.06
The Blood of Yingzhou District
Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Co-sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank
New York
In commemoration of World AIDS Day, Academy-Award-nominated producer Thomas Lennon and director Ruby Yang presented a post-screening discussion on their film about AIDS orphans in China. In this moving documentary, we follow a year in the life of children, such as Gao Jun, in the remote villages of Anhui Province, China, who have lost their parents to AIDS. The film investigates how traditional obligations to family and village collide with the widespread terror and prejudice against the disease in rural China and the region. Gao Jun does not speak a word until the closing minutes of the film and little is known about him, not even his age. Yet this young AIDS orphan reveals his ferocious resolve to live while his extended family weighs whether or not to keep him. The film won the Grand Jury Award at the AFI Silverdocs Film Festival, and has been nominated for several awards at the International Documentary Association. The discussion was moderated by Joan Kaufman, the director of the AIDS Public Policy Training Project at the Kennedy School of Government.

11.28.06
The Heart of the Matter: Cardiovascular Disease and the New Health Crisis In Asia
Hong Kong Center
Heart disease, usually seen as a quintessentially Western problem, is rapidly becoming a major threat to the developing world, costing millions of lives and billions of dollars. Worsening diets, lack of exercise, and smoking are causing heart disease and other chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes to take a mounting toll on countries around the world. What is the extent of the problem in Asia and what are the economic and societal consequences? Are health choices the responsibility of the individual or is it the duty of the state? What measures can individuals, the health care sector, and governments take? Dr. Judith Mackay, author, World Health Organization (WHO) Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke, presented findings on cardiovascular disease in Asia and discuss measures to combat the problem including legislation, education, and public policies.

11.27.06
The Blood of Yingzhou District
Film screening and panel discussion
San Francisco Center
Co-sponsored by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, AIDS Relief Fund for China, and Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation
Gao Jun is an HIV+ orphan (both his parents died of AIDS) and his uncles, who are his closest surviving kin, must weigh what to do with him. The older uncle's dilemma: if he allows his children to play with Gao Jun, they will be ostracized by fearful neighbors. For the younger uncle, as long as Gao Jun remains in the house, he may not be able to find a wife. Gao Jun is just one of many orphans in rural China portrayed in the film, caught in this clash between traditional Chinese obligations and the terror of a deadly infection. These childrens' suffering is all the more devastating because it is largely unnecessary, caused by ignorance and misinformation about the nature of HIV/AIDS. The Blood of Yingzhou District received the prestigious Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival in Washington, DC. This program, held in honor of World AIDS Day, marks the film's San Francisco premiere and featured a post-screening discussion with the filmmakers Thomas Lennon and Ruby Yang, and AIDS activist Humphrey Wou.

11.15.06
Health Inequities In China: The Frontier Challenge for the 21st Century
New York
As China's economy has transitioned through the opening up of reforms, China's state healthcare system, one of the greatest benefits of the state run economy, has been razed. Now largely privatized, China's healthcare system is especially weak and insufficient in rural areas. In addition, the range of diseases present, and global demand for public health has expanded. While chronic diseases have plagued the western world for a number of decades, the increase in noninfectious illness brings specific challenges to China's ability to address and improve the many weaknesses in its healthcare system. Speakers included: Lincoln Chen, China Medical Board; Bates Gill, Freeman Chair in China Studies, CSIS; Frank Hu, Harvard University, and Elisabeth Rosenthal, International Herald Tribune.
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As part of the Asia Society Series on Global Health, in partnership with Pfizer, Inc.:

10.10.06
How Should Asia Prepare for the Next Great Pandemic?
New York
As Asia reflects in the aftermath of the 2003 SARS outbreak and forecasts the widely anticipated Avian Influenza epidemic, the international community, and the region in particular, struggles to prepare for the next great pandemic. As the threat of disease continues, stakeholders must institute adequate global surveillance systems while individual countries battle to implement effective preparedness policies at the same time. This inaugural program in the Global Health Series will highlight the role of private and public partners in combating an approaching global pandemic. How real is the threat, and what must we do? Speakers included: Donald G. Ainslie, Deloitte and Touche LLP; Andrew Erickson, Naval War College; David Nabarro, United Nations; and Elisabeth Rosenthal, International Herald Tribune.
Read the transcript

09.19.06
Special Luncheon with BRAC Founder, Fazle Abed, and Columbia University's Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health, Allan Rosenfield
New York
This program aimed to link all of the issues of public health, microfinance, women's empowerment, and poverty alleviation, especially with regards to HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Fazle Abed presented a movie on BRAC, and a discussion between him, Allan Rosenfield, and the moderator, Joelle Tanguy, Managing Director of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC) followed.

06.20.06
China's Demographic Transition and Challenges for the Development of Health Sector & Case Study of Community Health Service In an Aging Society
Shanghai, PRC
Speakers included: the moderator, Hu Shanlian, Director of the Training Center for Health Management in the School of Public Health of Fudan University; Zuo Xuejin, Vice President, Shanghai Academy of Social; and Arjun Oberoi, Director of Commercial Development, Pfizer China.

06.13.06 - 06.18.06
The Blood of Yingzhou District
DOCS Rx: A World of Documentaries on Global Health
Co-sponsored by Asia Society
Washington DC

06.06.06
Joining Forces: HIV/AIDS in China - Asia on My Mind Dinner
Hosted by Gina and David Chu
Featured Guests: Pamela Fiori, Dr. David D. Ho, and Sue Williams
(Multiple locations)

05.30.06
The Next Wave: New Strategies and Responses to HIV/AIDS in India, China & Russia
Read the transcript

04.27.06 - 04.28.06
Third Annual Asian Dialogue on HIV/AIDS

04.06.06
Dr. Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Speaks on Avian Influenza, Asia Pacific Partnership and Democracy

04.04.06
Women, Islam and HIV/AIDS

03.30.06
The Role of Religion in Asia's Response to HIV/AIDS

03.21.06
China Syndrome: The True Story of the 21st Century's First Great Epidemic

02.01.06
Fighting HIV/AIDS Discrimination in Rural China

12.12.05
China's HIV/AIDS Response: A New Role for Civil Society

12.01.05
Asia Society Commemorates World AIDS Day

11.29.05
Picturing Hope: An After School Program on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic