Ricki Lake joins social media influencers Megan Nicole, Melvin Gregg, Wesley Stromberg, and Sammy Wilkinson in a 15-minute documentary chronicling the AIDS epidemic in Africa with the United States Government President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and Facebook to launch #TreatmentForAll, a global movement to help stop the AIDS epidemic by quickly initiating treatment for all people diagnosed with HIV. The movement’s shared goal is to ensure treatment for 28 million people by 2020.
The documentary will premier at 10:30 a.m. EST on Monday on the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Ray Chambers’ Facebook page while Lake and the four social influencers are at Facebook’s New York City offices. Lake and crew traveled to Malawi to talk to patients affected by HIV/AIDS in an effort to show the “faces” of those fighting this disease. The interviews captures first-hand the realities of people suffering from AIDS worldwide. The documentary also features interviews with U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, and President Bill Clinton.
Following the premiere, The social media stars along with digital stars from The Influential Network, will engage their combined digital following of more than 40 million people around the world by sharing the film and launching the #TreatmentForAll campaign.
In a statement, President Bill Clinton said, “If you want to save lives and stop an epidemic that has claimed the lives of tens of millions of people, treatment is the best prevention. Now we’re on the verge, for the first time ever… of being able to have one pill to treat people with HIV and AIDS that costs less than $100. It’s never happened. Once that does happen, the money that has already been appropriated will go exponentially further.”
