Steve Bedi: African musician uses his saxophone to fight AIDS

Published on 29-Oct-2018

Khushboo Razdan

"It's all about striking the right chord with people, music can achieve what a thousand speeches cannot," asserts renowned African jazz musician Steve Bedi in an exclusive interview with CGTN.

As one of the finest saxophonists from Africa, Steve has been using his talent to fight against the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa as a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador since 2014.

The musician, who's currently in China, performed at Beijing's Phoenix International Media Center on October 24 to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (UN).

"90-90-90 by 2020 is possible"

In 2015, the United Nations fast-tracked its battle against HIV/AIDS by setting an ambitious target of 90-90-90 by 2020, which means, 90 percent of all people living with HIV would know their HIV status, 90 percent of all people with diagnosed HIV infection would receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90 percent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy have viral suppression.

Antiretroviral therapy is the medications that treat HIV. The viral suppression is a stage where the HIV in body reaches an undetectable level.

Steve believes the UN target is achievable, "All goals and targets are viable, there's nothing we cannot achieve with music". He went on to say "People don't want to read ads, they are reluctant to attend events on HIV/AIDS or go for an HIV test, and music is the only way to attract more people."

He gives an example, "In Malawi, my concerts attracted thousands of youths, they bought our message and got tested."

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