To advocate greater community  involvement, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS)  hosted the "Hong Kong AIDS Conference 2001" Monday, with the theme of "We care, We make a difference".

   About 330 guests from different countries attended the 3-day  meeting to share their experience on AIDS services.

   Betty Tung, wife of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special  Administrative Region Tung Chee Hwa, said at the opening ceremony  as the officiating guest, "HIV/AIDS is more than a pure medical  issue. It also implicates the social, economic and cultural facets of life. Therefore, it requires intensive community involvement to eradicate this epidemic."

   "We shall help to promote the concept of prevention, care and  acceptance," she said.

   According to HKCSS, 36.1 million people have been infected with AIDS globally of which 5.3 million were newly infected in 2000.  That means about 15,000 men, women and children from all around  the world being infected each day.