Faisal Cup raises HIV awareness among children

Maybank Treats Fair 2014
July 3, 2014
Bengkel Implementasi Program Secara Efektif
July 3, 2014

Faisal Cup raises HIV awareness among children

Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) collaborated with the organisers of Faisal Cup football and netball tournament to bring awareness of HIV & AIDS to more than 200 school children in a very subtle and fun way. Held at SMK Raja Ali Jalan Ipoh on 15 June 2014, the Faisal Cup was organised in conjunction with Protect the Goal, a global campaign launched at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa to create awareness on HIV prevention programmes globally. The programme was initiated by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in collaboration with the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The project driven by AFC, ADB and UNAIDS will comprise of behavioral change communications with youths through mainstream and social media, using the popularity of football as a tool to deliver messages to promote health in the region, while leveraging on the support of AFC’s sponsors and member associations, as well as building partnerships with community-based and youth-led organisations.

Dato’ Windsor John, the AFC Deputy General Secretary said, “The main objective of the programme is to educate the community on HIV transmission among young people in this region, as we are hopeful that the society can benefit a lot from such awareness campaign. We acknowledge and recognise the stature of the Faisal Cup, which reaches out to the younger members of our society. Every child should be given an opportunity for education and play in a safer environment. ”

“It is highly imperative for all Malaysians, especially youths to be aware of HIV and AIDS and be educated on its preventive measures to combat the disease in the end successfully. We had a booth set-up at the recent Faisal Cup and were delighted to have engaged with both participants and spectators” said Roswati Ghani, MAC Executive Director.

Faisal Cup was initiated in remembrance of the late Mohd Faisal Abdul Rahman, 17 years of age then, on his drowning tragedy while trying to fetch an old ball he saw floating in the Gombak River. His unemployed parents could not afford to buy him a ball and never had opportunity to play football with him due to the lack of a safe playing area.