Video: 'Project Runway' Designer Launches New Video in Online Series on World AIDS

1 Dec 2009 15:00 Africa/Lagos

Video: 'Project Runway' Designer Launches New Video in Online Series on World AIDS Day to Educate About Living with HIV and AIDS and to Help Combat HIV Stigma

Jack Mackenroth interviews influential HIV and AIDS advocates for 'Living Positive By Design: Creating Positive Conversations' video series

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Today on World AIDS Day, Jack Mackenroth, from the hit reality television series "Project Runway," has launched the next video in the online video series called "Living Positive By Design: Creating Positive Conversations" as part of the national HIV and AIDS education initiative, Living Positive By Design. The campaign, supported by Merck & Co., Inc., aims to encourage thoughtful conversations about HIV and AIDS, to confront HIV stigma and motivate HIV-positive people to have a positive outlook on life while effectively managing their disease.


To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/merck/41310/


"Today on World AIDS Day, it is important for people living with HIV to have a positive outlook on life while effectively managing their disease. That's why for the past year, I have partnered with Merck on Living Positive By Design, which seeks to combat the stigma associated with the disease," said Mackenroth. "Having lived with HIV and AIDS myself for more than 20 years, World AIDS Day is a special day, and it gives me hope to think about how far we've come in treatment and research since the very first World AIDS Day."


The next video in the "Living Positive By Design: Creating Positive Conversations" will be available for download on World AIDS Day. The video features Jack interviewing Dr. Michael Gottlieb, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine; Marjorie J. Hill, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC); and Robert Walker, creator of the comic book, "O+ Men." The video features each of these influential individuals in the HIV and AIDS landscape discussing the important initiatives and achievements that they have been a part of in the fight against the disease.


To download the "Living Positive By Design: Creating Positive Conversations" video and widget featuring the World AIDS Day interviews, and to learn more about the campaign, please visit: www.LivingPositiveByDesign.com.


Prevalence of HIV and AIDS


According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2006 there were more than one million Americans living with HIV and AIDS. In the same year, an estimated 56,000 new cases were diagnosed in the U.S. Forty-nine percent of new diagnoses were among African Americans and 50 percent were among men who have sex with men (MSM).


About Merck


Merck & Co., Inc. is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first. Established in 1891, Merck currently discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs. The Company devotes extensive efforts to increase access to medicines through far-reaching programs that not only donate Merck medicines but help deliver them to the people who need them. Merck also publishes unbiased health information as a not-for-profit service. For more information, visit www.merck.com.


Forward-looking statement


This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. The forward-looking statements may include statements regarding product development, product potential or financial performance. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Merck undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Merck's business, particularly those mentioned in the risk factors and cautionary statements in Item 1A of Merck's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, and in any risk factors or cautionary statements contained in the Company's periodic reports on Form 10-Q or current reports on Form 8-K, which the Company incorporates by reference.


Press Contact: Rachi Govil 212-537-8157 Rachi.Govil@cohnwolfe.com


Video: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/merck/41310
Source: Merck & Co., Inc.

CONTACT: Rachi Govil, +1-212-537-8157, Rachi.Govil@cohnwolfe.com


Web Site: http://www.livingpositivebydesign.com/