HIV-AIDS Cure News 2017: Harvard Honors Elton John For Efforts To Fight Disease
When it comes to battling HIV-AIDS, most people often picture doctors and scientists hard at work at finding a cure for the deadly disease. However, there are also people that while aren't versed in medicine, provide help in raising awareness and even donate to research efforts, people like Elton John.
The 70-year-old singer was recently honored at Harvard University for his philanthropic efforts to fight the disease. John was presented with Harvard Foundation's Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award at a ceremony Monday, an award previously given to individuals such as former South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Secretaries-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Javier Perez de Cuellar.
John, who runs an AIDS foundation, calls the award "both gratifying and tremendously humbling." He adds that they are committed to sustain and grow the progress they've made to eradicate stigma and end the spread of HIV/AIDS, once and for all.
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Since it was established in 1992, the Elton John AIDS Foundation has raised more than $300 million for HIV- and AIDS-related programs in fifty-five countries. The charity supports itself via proceeds from special events, cause-related marketing projects, and voluntary contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations.
Over the years, it has garnered a number of famous and wealthy patrons such as David and Victoria Beckham, Sting, Sir David Frost, and Charlie Sheen who himself revealed that he was HIV positive. Since 1993, the foundation also began hosting the annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party with the first one being held in February 1993 at Maple Drive Restaurant and raised $300,000.
John said he lost friends to HIV-AIDS and regrets not doing more to help as he battled addictions early in his career. This all changed when he met Ryan White, a teenager from Indiana who became the poster child for HIV awareness during the 1980s AIDS crisis. White's personable and compassionate persona helped reduce the stigmatizing attitudes towards people living throughout the crisis and inspired John to start his foundation.
