In 2013, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education invited Rock Records Company (滾石集團) to cooperate with the government to raise awareness about AIDS on campus. Singers from two Rock Record bands, FUN4 and io, together wrote a song, “Solution”, to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention. The rock singers visited several senior high schools located in the northern, central and southern Taiwan. With the members of popular music clubs in 23 senior high schools, these rock singers hosted Rock ’n Roll parties for the teens and urged them all to “Love Rock’n Roll & Fight AIDS”. They also spoke about the government’s determination and vision of a world with zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths.

A press conference for the campaign was held on October 22, 2013. At the event, the heavy metal song “Solution” was launched by the two rock bands, FUN4 and io, to stress the importance of safe sex and show their support for the HIV/AIDS patients. The president of Rock Records and legendary record producer, Johnny Duan (段鍾沂), participated in the press conference and said that HIV/AIDS has been an issue of major concern at Rock Records for a long time. Duan encouraged young people to express their feelings on social issues through music. To enhance awareness about AIDS prevention among adolescents, this year Rock Records cooperated with the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) to help AIDS prevention campaign with the power of music.

Based on statistics compiled by Taiwan CDC, as of September 2013, in Taiwan, the cumulative number of reported HIV infections is 25,954, of which 5,178 (20%) are aged between 15 and 24. In the past four years, 2,109 young people aged between 15 and 24 were newly diagnosed with HIV infections, accounting for 27.4% of the total new HIV infections (7,704) in Taiwan during the period. Additionally, unsafe sex was the major cause of those new HIV infections. There is a worrying trend that more and more young people are becoming infected with HIV every year, thus underscoring the importance of HIV/AIDS campaign on campus.

The Ministry of Education said that more young people are having sex at an early age and they usually have a more open attitude toward sexual relationships. In order to push for more effective HIV/AIDS prevention programs, lessons about HIV/AIDS prevention are included in the sex education courses. Teachers who are interested in promoting HIV/AIDS prevention awareness can take training courses that provide them with diverse and engaging teaching methods and reliable information and knowledge about HIV and AIDS prevention.

Dr. Feng-Yee Chang, the Director-General of Taiwan CDC, pointed out that Taiwan CDC invited Rock Records to participate in the campaign to spread accurate information about HIV/AIDS prevention in a more creative way, using teens’ favorite music instead of lectures to attract young people’s attention. Taiwan CDC would like to stress again that young people should avoid high-risk sexual behaviors such as unsupervised “house parties” and sex with multiple partners. Above all, it is important to use a condom during sex in order to protect yourself and your partner against the AIDS virus.