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The following is issued on behalf of the Committee on Education and Publicity on AIDS:

The wife of the Chief Executive, Mrs Betty Tung, today (Tuesday) called on the younger generation and people from different walks of life to join in and contribute to the fight against AIDS.

Officiating at the "Outstanding AIDS Workers" award presentation ceremony held in honour of the World AIDS Day today, Mrs Tung paid tribute to all those, who, in different roles and positions, had devoted wholeheartedly to the cause of AIDS prevention. Their hard work, she said, deserved the greatest respect.

Mrs Tung said that the nominees of this year's award had come from different strata of the community, from university lecturer to housewife, artiste and nurse.

It was encouraging to note that most of them were young volunteers whose regular jobs were not in the least related to AIDS prevention, she said.

Their participation underlined their enthusiastic spirit in serving the community, Mrs Tung said.

Looking back to the 14 years since the first AIDS case was identified in Hong Kong, Mrs Tung said that the Government and various organisations had been striving hard to contain the spread of the disease and minimise its impact on individuals and society.

Since no curative treatment had been developed, prevention remained the most important part of our work against AIDS, she said.

When one more person is made aware of the importance of preventing AIDS, there will be one less person running the risk of being infected, she added.

The "Outstanding AIDS Workers" award was organised jointly by the Hong Kong Council of Social Services, the Committee on Education and Publicity on AIDS and the Red Ribbon Centre to acknowledge the efforts of persons who had contributed to AIDS prevention and care.

End/Tuesday, December 1, 1998

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