Former UN special envoy to speak at UF on April 3

April 2, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World and a former United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, will speak on April 3 at the University of Florida. Lewis will discuss the role of universities in the global access to essential medicines. This event is sponsored by Universities Allied for Essential Medicines as part of an ongoing campaign for the adoption of humanitarian technology licensing practices at the University of Florida. Lewis will speak from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Pugh Hall Ocora. This event is free and open to the public.

Lewis is the co-director of AIDS-Free World, http://www.aids-freeworld.org, an advocacy organization that grew out of his conviction that the AIDS pandemic can be defeated with better leadership, as well as urgent and effective responses from the UN, wealthy nations and the governments of the most affected countries. He is the author of “Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa.” Lewis was the United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa from 2001-2006, and his extensive career in the fields of diplomacy, politics, activism and humanitarian work include roles as deputy executive director of UNICEF and Canadian ambassador to the UN.

Internationally recognized for his forthright and often provocative analyses of the AIDS crisis, Lewis has earned the respect and admiration of fans and critics for his painfully honest accounts of the African pandemic and the industrialized nations’ woefully inadequate responses.