HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach^[1] - 20 November 2019 - Following a year of impressive growth, the firm is adding a red ribbon to its logo to support World AIDS Day on 1 December.

While there's a lot to celebrate for advances in the treatment and fight against HIV and AIDS, there's also much more to achieve both globally and in Hong Kong. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 70 million people have acquired the infection, and about 35 million people have died. Today, around 38 million worldwide live with HIV, of whom 23 million are receiving treatment. One of the biggest challenges in the fight against HIV has remained unchanged for 30 years: HIV disproportionally impacts people in vulnerable situations and geographic areas. Affected individuals are often highly marginalized and stigmatized, including in rather open societies as Hong Kong.

Social responsibility has been an integral part of Hugill & Ip credo since its founding days. The firm is committed to advancing its policies to address and monitor all aspects of social responsibility that are relevant to the practice. These include good ethical behaviour, concern for employees' well-being, care for the environment and involvement in the community. Social, environmental and ethical conduct has an impact not only on reputation, but especially in creating a chain of personal and professional behaviours that positively impact the world we live in.

The firm actively promotes diversity and inclusion in the workplace and in the community. It believes in recognising and promoting talent and opportunities for every member of the firm, regardless of gender, race, family status, disability, sexual orientation, identity or expression, age, religion or beliefs.

Next week will be dedicated to a series of educational videos where several Hugill & Ip solicitors focus on issues like estate planning and probate, employment rights, discrimination and the progress of LGBT rights in Hong Kong.

As funding partners Adam Hugill and Alfred Ip have reiterated, the firm is thrilled to join hands with AIDS Concern this year for the "Wills of Concern^[2]" campaign during which they hope to raise as many donations as possible for achieving a fall of the annual HIV new infection rate, to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and eliminate stigma for people living with HIV. Until the end of 2019, direct donations to AIDS Concern will benefit this important cause, while Hugill & Ip will write free wills in return. For further details, please check the following link^[3].

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} Wills of Concern (www.hugillandip.com)
3. ^{^} link (www.hugillandip.com)