Fashionably caring

What is the power of 150 yuan?

You can get lunch at McDonald's or a sweater to help ease a chilly Beijing winter. But more meaningfully, you can also buy lipstick and in doing so help in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The Viva Glam lipstick purchase program is part of an anti-HIV/AIDS supported by UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) and MAC, a makeup brand under the global cosmetic giant Estee Lauder Group.

With the theme of "lending a hand to HIV-infected people", the MAC AIDS Fund was initiated in 1994. Since then, MAC with the help of celebrity supporters ranging from Hillary Clinton and Lisa Marie Presley to Mary J Blige and Lil' Kim have sold 9.3 million Viva Glam lipsticks worldwide, and donated all the revenues to support its anti-AIDS campaign.

To date, MAC has raised a total $1.3 million in the international campaign against HIV/AIDS. Two years ago, the project was first introduced in China and so far, the company has donated 2.85 million yuan for anti-AIDS activities in China.

"With Estee Lauder's market share's continued rise in recent years, our brands have become a force in China's cosmetic market. So, one thing we can do is to share warmth and give more care to our social involvement," Carol Shen, managing director of Estee Lauder China, tells China Business Weekly.

Shen says that what makes the MAC AIDS Fund stand out is that it focuses more on providing prevention education to children and teenagers, with a core value of anti-discrimination.

MAC also mobilizes and organizes more than 300 Youth Ambassadors from Chinese communities and universities to spread HIV/AIDS prevention education in underserved cities in the country, such as in Yunnan and Gansu provinces and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Statistics from UNICEF say that in recent three years, over 80 percent of new HIV cases are reported in young people, aged 15 to 24. Chinese children and youth also represent the majority of the 70,000 new infections each year.

"Despite increased government investment in China in mass education campaigns, many young people - especially for migrant workers, minorities and the school dropouts - still don't know how to protect themselves from the epidemic," says Yin Yin Nwe, UNICEF representative in China.

However, what draws more public attention is another survey released recently by the MAC AIDS Fund: more than 50 percent people surveyed still feel uncomfortable being near an HIV-positive person. And 52 percent of them do not want to live in the same house with an HIV-positive person.

Stigmas and discrimination are still major obstacles in an effective response to AIDS, Minister of Health Chen Zhu said at this year's World AIDS day.

So MAC mobilizes the group of Youth Ambassadors to live closely with HIV-infected children for a long period.

"We educate them and tell them the significance of opening their minds and accepting early detection in the fight against AIDS," says Chen Runru, a Youth Ambassador working in Jicheng primary school in Fengyi county, Yunnan province.

"We can hug, hold hands and live for several years," Chen says, adding that she has raised money for a small library in a Jicheng school."The epidemic is spreading," she says. "It is a problem we have to face together."

Furthermore, living closely with HIV-infected children is the best way to know what's going on in children's heads, especially those living in rural areas, according to Yu Xiaojie, an ambassador in Kunming city of Yunnan province.

"We want more people wearing a red ribbon (the worldwide symbol of HIV/AIDS prevention) and hands-on love and care to HIV-infected people," says Yu.

Shen says it is invaluable for her to hear from MAC's Youth Ambassadors about their experiences about spreading knowledge about AIDS and living with HIV-infected people in the country.

In addition, "we have kept improving the quality of our products, with the target to make consumers feel they are valued and being also valuable when they spend 150 yuan for a tube of Viva Glam lipstick," Shen says.

"That is a wonderful way to inspire more people to participate in the campaign against HIV/AIDS," Shen adds.

Everyday is the World AIDS Day for MAC - "we will continue with our non-stop efforts to prevent AIDS," she says.

(China Daily 12/29/2008 page8)