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'Magic' Johnson introduces PSAs for AIDS awareness

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-10 09:50

LOS ANGELES  -- Former NBA player Earvin "Magic" Johnson Monday introduced a pair of public service announcements targeted at minority communities and encouraging people to be tested for HIV and AIDS.

Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, Cookie Johnson and Spike Lee at the filming of Abbott and the Magic Johnson Foundation's "I Stand With Magic - Campaign to End Black HIV/AIDS "public service announcement campaign, a program aimed at helping prevent HIV infection in the minority communities. [Agencies]

The PSAs were directed by Oscar-nominated director Spike Lee and will be posted on the Internet video-sharing site YouTube and on Abbott.com, the website of the Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories medical research firm.

Johnson, who announced in 1991 that he had tested positive for HIV, said his announcement led to a spike in interest among many people to get tested and learn more about the disease.

"And then we lost that momentum and now we're not talking about HIV and AIDS like we used to," Johnson said as he premiered the PSAs at a movie theater complex in Los Angeles.

He said he hopes that by launching these public service announcements to at-risk populations, people across the United States would have the courage to get tested and go back for their results.

The announcements are part of Johnson's "I Stand With Magic" program. The first PSA is titled "Stand" and urges black people to get educated, tested and seek treatment for HIV, while the second is titled "Talk" and encourages women to protect themselves and talk to their partners about safe sex.

"I encourage leaders in the black community to take action, get talking and take a stand in their neighborhoods," director Lee said. "This PSA was developed to educate people about this disease. This campaign keeps pounding the message home."