Aprilia RS-GP in (RED)
When you watch the Valencia GP, keep an
eye out for a pair of strikingly red motorcycles on the track, piloted by
Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl. This is because their Aprilia RS-GP race
bikes will be sporting a special (RED) livery, supporting the charity that
fights acquired immune deficiency syndrome – better known as AIDS.
A disease that once generated massive headlines in
the United States in the 1980s, now for many in the western world, AIDS is no
longer the specter it once was.
Modern antiviral treatments can reduce the presence
of AIDS in affected patients to below detectable levels, thus making AIDS a
chronic instead of terminal disease, and which allows patients to lead mostly
full and normal lives.
However in other countries, AIDS is still very much
a death sentence once it is contracted, with access to life-saving medication
incredibly more difficult to acquire, and prevention efforts woefully
inadequate.
Over 37 million people worldwide are currently
infected with AIDS, with 2 million more contracting the disease with each
passing year – many of them in Africa. (RED) aims to change that epidemic, and
has contributed US$ 360 million to the stop of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in
the region.
Hopefully with the help of Aprilia and the MotoGP
Championship, even more support can be channeled to this worthy
cause.
