African art has traditionally been perceived by western societies as being folklore or handicrafts. It wasn’t until late 20 th century that the so-called art critics reexamined the uniqueness of the contemporary African art, which finally found its place in the cultural conscience of western countries.

In 1986, one exhibition in Paris became pivotal in changing the perception of non-western contemporary art. The exhibition, called Magicians of the Earth, showed the works of contemporary artists from all continents. This event led to the creation of the Contemporary African Art Collection (C.A.A.C) by art collector Jean Pigozzi, who has become one of the major promoters of African art.

Pigozzi’s collection, one of the most important in the world, includes works of artists that live and work in sub-Saharan Africa who use different formats of expression ranging from paintings and sculptures to video and multi-media.

The importance of the collection and of most contemporary African art lies in the fact that artists have liberated themselves from the aesthetic tutelage imposed by western models and are able to express local or universal ideas with their own language, icons and formats.

African artists live and work closely in touch with their public and are aware of both local and global current affairs. Furthermore, the representation of collective problems has become a recurrent pattern which underlines the importance of the community in Africa.

Cheri Samba, one of the most famous Congolese painters, stated: “My art is part and parcel of my environment. It draws its inspiration from the people, it is concerned with the people, and it is meant for them”(1).

African art digs into its own reality, which makes artists the chroniclers of their times. Tradition, nature, myths and day-to-day life are sources of inspiration that shape the works of contemporary African artists. But common to all those artists, is the unavoidable influence that AIDS, and its impact on their societies, has in the conception of their art.

AIDS has shaped the lives of millions of people, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, and its impact it is embedded in the artists’ perceptions of their communities. Their works of art reflect in many ways the effects that the AIDS epidemic has on the societies they live in. However, art can and in fact should play an important role in the response to AIDS.

The proximity of African artists to their communities and the fact that they use a common language, place them in a privileged position to raise awareness of the epidemic as well as to provoke thought and dialogue around AIDS issues such as stigma and discrimination, poverty, gender and human rights.

UNAIDS Art for AIDS collection

In late 2006 UNAIDS launched the Art for AIDS collection in its new headquarters in Geneva, a building it shares with the World Health Organization.

“We are very fortunate to have art on loan from the Jean Pigozzi Geneva collection,” said Annemarie Hou, curator of the UNAIDS collection. “There are several pieces that have provoked hallway conversations and heated discussions—to hear people talk about the art was when we knew the collection was working.

”The UNAIDS’ Art for AIDS collection are museum quality pieces that provoke thought and dialogue. With an initial emphasis on African art and artists, the pieces have been assembled through the generous support of artists, collectors and donors.

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All photo credit: O. O'Hanlon

 

(1) Cheri Samba, 100% Africa, TF Editores & FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa, Bilbao, 2006, p.142

Note: The work of 25 artists from the Jean Pigozzi’s collection can be seen at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain until the 18th of February 2007 in an exhibition entitled 100% Africa.

African traditional medicine is often the primary, and frequently the only, accessible health-care option for many people living in sub-Saharan Africa.

Attempts to bring biomedical and traditional health care together for people living with HIV began in the early 1990s when the World Health Organisation recommended that traditional medicine be included in national responses to HIV.

“People all over the world have always sought advice from both biomedical doctors and traditional healers for all kinds of physical, emotional and spiritual problems. HIV is no exception” said Purnima Mane, Director of Policy, Evidence and Partnerships at UNAIDS. “It is our responsibility to ensure that people have access to the best possible care which they need and seek.” she added.

Early attempts to combine the best of both systems included a variety of projects that looked at the usefulness of traditional herbal remedies for the treatment of HIV-related illnesses. Studies looking at traditional healers’ perceptions of sexually transmitted infections and HIV infection were also conducted. With this information, collaborative projects began, training traditional healers as educators and counsellors to disseminate information on HIV and sexually transmitted infections in their communities and to their peers.

One such project involved the Inanda healers from the Valley of a Thousand Hills, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. In 2000, community leaders called for help in strengthening their response to the AIDS epidemic. They identified local traditional healers as having an important role to play. In response to their request, social scientists and medical doctors began working in partnership with the local traditional healers on HIV prevention projects.

A group of around 16-20 healers attended one-day monthly workshops where they learnt about HIV transmission, prevention, treatment and care. Discussions took place around traditional and cultural sexual practices that could prevent HIV transmission and safer sexual practices involving more than just condoms.

Herbal treatments such as Sutherlandia frutescens, also known as the ‘cancer bush’, which is produced in pill form and enhances appetite and immunity, were debated alongside other traditional medicines used by the healers.

 

Guest speakers were invited to talk about the use of medicinal plants and the healers, who were invited to attend a course at a medicinal plant nursery, later established a medicinal plant garden.

Coordination of the needs of the patient within a family and community context was an important part of the discussions. Traditionally, healers apply holistic healing approaches to problems and illnesses during their consultations, and whilst the patient remains the focus, equal importance is given to the socio-cultural background where the support network and the family interaction are essential.

“We must find more ways of facilitating and supporting the unique contribution healers can make to the response to AIDS,” said Andy Seale, Chief of Civil Society Partnerships at UNAIDS.

Through the regular meetings, the healers have established an informal support network and rely on each other for referral and resources. Increasingly, ways are being found to stimulate both referral networking with the formal health sector and with the traditional healers.

The ripples of the Inanda healers’ work have become increasingly widespread and more and more people are requesting HIV testing, counselling and support through the healers. There is hope in the Valley of a Thousand Hills and the commitment to make a difference.

 

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As part of the best practice collection, UNAIDS has published practical guidelines to help health authorities develop productive relationships between traditional healers and moder biomedical professionals and strengthen the response to AIDS. http://data.unaids.org/Publications/IRC-pub07/JC967-TradHealers_en.pdf

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UNAIDS "Best Practice Collection" - Learning from experiece

Latest styles, smartest colours and trendiest cuts will be central to an AIDS initiative in Algeria designed to help people living with HIV get back into the workplace.

The Algerian association of people living with HIV, El Hayet, has launched a pilot project for people living with HIV where participants will be trained in the production of haute-couture and prêt-à-porter clothing.

The training is led and designed by a professional dressmaker and the course will allow participants to learn about the tools and techniques of the fashion industry, in particular designing, model making, styling and sewing. Candidates who successfully complete the course will be able to obtain official recognition of their new trade from the National Chamber of Trade and Handicraft.

 

“Algerian society can be unforgiving,” said Zohira Merah, president of El Hayet. “But people living with HIV have the right to work, to be creative and to support ourselves without having to rely on handouts or charity,” she added.

The 12-month programme, which began in September 2006, is supported by the UNAIDS Secretariat and UNAIDS Cosponsors ILO and UNDP. The project has been made possible through grants from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The initiative provides innovative economic opportunities for the participants, who will be paid for their work during the 12-month period. In addition, all the garments created during the course of the year will be sold with funds raised going to support people living with or affected by HIV in Algeria. “The economic element of this project will both help to attract new candidates and ensure motivation is kept alive to build a longer term career plan,” Zohira Merah said.

“In this world we need to learn how to take care of ourselves, that’s why I enrolled in this programme,” said one of the participants. “It’s hard to find work in today’s society, particularly for a woman. I’ve been living with HIV for 12 years and this course given me the opportunity take control of my life and be independent. When I’ve finished I’ll be able to pass on what I’ve learnt to other people living with or affected by HIV which is a good feeling,” she added.

On completion, the course offers new opportunities for people living with HIV to access sustainable economic independence thanks to the agreement established between the National Agency for Administration of micro-credits and the El Hayet. Specialized trainers will help interested and successful participants to apply for micro-credits ranging from US$ 400 to US$ 5,500, reimbursable over a period of up to five years.

“This project is a clear example of how the principle of greater involvement of people living with HIV can be achieved,” said Andy Seale, Chief of Civil Society Partnerships at UNAIDS. “Longer term sustainable solutions such as this workshop in Algeria are an essential part of the response to AIDS,” he added.

“As life-saving anti retroviral therapy becomes more widely available we need more focus on ensuring people living with HIV have the opportunity to fulfil their potential as productive members of society and be economically independent. Often this entails reintegration into the workforce but due to the stigma and discrimination still associated with HIV infection this is not always an easy process. The project is an excellent example of how this can be facilitated in a thoughtful way,” said Kate Thomson, Partnership Adviser at UNAIDS.

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UNAIDS Executive Director was in Dublin, Ireland on Tuesday 30th January to sign with Conor Lenihan TD, Minister of State for Irish Aid, a new €30 million, five year partnership between Ireland and UNAIDS. The agreement strengthens Ireland's commitment to the response to AIDS and confirms its leading position in the global response. The Minister of State for Irish Aid, Conor Lenihan TD, and UNAIDS Executive Director, Dr Peter Piot, also met with fourteen Irish Aid sponsored UN Volunteer (UNV) Interns who will travel overseas next week to work in the developing world for a period of one year.

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All photo credit : Maxwells Photography

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Read Press Release
Read more on Ireland's 'Stamp Out Stigma' campaign

Ireland is pledging to “Stamp out” AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in Ireland as part of a national campaign launched by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern on December 1 2006.

The goal of this public awareness campaign is to improve the understanding of HIV and the issues that HIV positive people have to deal with, it also aims at reducing AIDS-related in the workplace and in promoting safer environments for people to disclose their status and access necessary services. The one-year campaign is a joint initiative of the Irish Department of Health and Children and the Department of Foreign Affairs

“Each year on 1 December, the world comes together in solidarity with the millions of men, women and children who are living with HIV and we remember our obligation to act now and to live up to the ambitious international commitments we have made,” said Prime Minister Ahern when launching the campaign on World AIDS Day.

The campaign will feature a number of activities in 2007 such as the development an anti-stigma advertisement to be screened on national television, through national cinemas and on the internet. “Stamp out Stigma” will involve a wide variety of partners in the AIDS response including the media sector, with the aim of encouraging responsible, non-stigmatizing reporting on AIDS in both print and broadcast media throughout Ireland. Activities and lobbying will also take place to promote the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Acts 2000 and 2004 which prohibit all forms of discrimination in the workplace on the basis of HIV status.

“We must all work together to make our societies more open and caring, more inclusive and less judgmental,” said Prime Minister Ahern.

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Some 2,400 people have made their way to Davos in Switzerland for the opening of the World Economic Forum Annual meeting 2007. Global leaders this year come from the top-most levels, with more than 800 CEOs, Chairmen and Chairwomen taking part and 24 heads of state and government. The overarching theme of this year’s meeting is “Shaping the Global Agenda, The Shifting Power Equation,” focusing in particular on political and socio-economic issues.

The programme will follow four main themes that figure prominently on the global agenda in 2007. These range from “Economics: New Drivers” and “Geopolitics: The Need for Fresh Mandates” to “Business: Leading in Connected World” and “Technology and Society: Identity, Community and Networks”.

UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot will be in Davos for the meeting where he will meet with numerous representatives from business, foundations and civil society and will participate in various events including a panel session on AIDS 2025. The session will explore different scenarios of how the AIDS epidemic could develop. Key themes will include the impact of large-scale efforts aimed at HIV prevention, the effectiveness of current approaches to AIDS treatment and the centralization of the provision of AIDS-related information.

In previous years the World Economic Forum in Davos has been instrumental in putting AIDS on high on the political and business agenda. In 2006 rock star Bono launched a new corporate initiative to create a sustainable and profitable brand – Product RED –designed to raise funds for AIDS in Africa.

AIDS and poverty topped the agenda of the meeting in 2005 where French President Jacques Chirac called for an international tax to raise money to fight AIDS and British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged participants to put poverty and AIDS in Africa at the top of their agendas.

In 2001, computer software billionaire Bill Gates pledged to donate US$ 100 million to the International Aids Vaccine Initiative and challenged global business leaders to follow his lead and donate money for research into an AIDS vaccine.

In Nelson Mandela’s poignant speech at the 1997 World Economic Forum he said that the challenge of AIDS could be overcome and called for the global community to ‘ join hands in a caring partnership for health and prosperity as we enter the new millennium’.

This year, most of the 223 sessions, workshops, panel discussions, lunches and dinners will be interactive to foster collaborative approaches to resolving issues. This approach also aims to encourage top leaders from business, politics, religious groups and non-governmental organizations to engage in shaping global, regional and industry agendas.

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2007 will provide the opportunity for influential leaders from diverse fields and areas of the world to address concerns and build the effective, innovative communities needed to create new approaches.

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Links:

Visit the World Economic Forum Website
Read 'BUSINESS and AIDS: Winning some fights but loosing the battle' by UNAIDS Executive Director, Dr. Peter Piot

In celebration of the Millennium Development Goals, the Media Communications Association International, the United Nations Department of Public Information and the New School are calling for entries for the Third Annual United Nations Documentary Film Festival. The Festival, entitled ‘Stories from the Field’ will take place on Friday, April 20 through Sunday, April 22, 2007, and feature film screenings, panel discussions, and award presentations.

‘Stories from the Field’ was founded in 2005 as the United Nations entered its 60 th year. Its mission is to screen films that reflect the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which pledge to:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development

Filmmakers are invited to submit works that spotlight some of the people and cultures in areas with a United Nations presence throughout the world and discover what these groups are doing to overcome challenges such as poverty, AIDS, hunger, disease, civil unrest, trafficking, and injustice; show how a particular United Nations programme or service is helping a developing community to develop a civil society, self-determination, and a better quality of life for its people; and / or provide a platform for United Nations workers, community leaders, and the people they serve to share their stories of adversity and triumph.

Finalists will be selected by a screening committee of United Nations officials, MCAI representatives, New School faculty, and Mount Sinai global health experts, based on the topical relevance, artistic merit, and production values of their work.

All filmmakers from or contracted by United Nations offices, funds, programmes, and agencies around the world are invited to submit entries for consideration by 31 January 2007. The selected films will be announced on March 12, 2007.

Panel discussions at the Festival will feature the filmmakers, and invited representatives from the United Nations, The New School, MCAI NY, and, for the first time, The Mount Sinai Hospital and School of Medicine , which will lend its expertise to those discussions that center on global health.

The competition is also open to filmmakers from the general public.

Find out more about the Film Festival and how to enter on the special Festival Web site, www.mcainy.org/unfilm or on www.un.org/millenniumgoals

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Bill Roedy, President of MTV Networks International and UNAIDS Special Representative talks to the Executive Director of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria John Tedstrom about media's involvement in the AIDS response.  

 

Q. Bill, you’ve had an amazingly diverse professional life-you were a career officer in the U.S. Army for almost seven years before you transitioned to television and joined MTV in 1989. When did AIDS first emerge on your radar screen and what made you passionate about the issue?

A. It’s always been important to me. More importantly, it’s always been important for MTV too. We’ve been involved in this issue for 25 years, and the reason that we continue to strive to find news ways of getting our message out is because 40 % of new HIV infections are amongst those under 25, which is our core audience.

Q. From the beginning of the epidemic, I’ve always admired how MTV has pushed the envelope, producing public service announcements on HIV, introducing viewers to positive people, and encouraging young people to protect themselves and get tested. Did you ever worry that the company would receive backlash for being so bold?

A. No, in fact I have always viewed doing nothing as not being an option. Using our global network to communicate HIV prevention messages is one of the most important things we can do to contribute to this cause. I would like to encourage other companies to play to their strengths and look at how they can contribute too. We all have a role to play.

Q. Does MTV’s strong position on AIDS serve as a recruitment and retention tool for employees, or help the company bring the right people on board?

A. There have been many studies done which show staff appreciation when their company and senior management are involved in social causes. I would hope that our involvement in the AIDS response as well as other issues, such as children’s rights and the environment, serves as an attraction for existing and future staff members.

Q. This past World AIDS Day, after completing an enormously successful eighteen months as the Chair of the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI) Leadership Committee, you turned the position over to Dali Mpofu. Kofi Annan sang your praises: "Bill Roedy has mobilized media companies around the world to make unprecedented commitments to HIV prevention through innovative campaigns and programming." Can you explain why prevention efforts are still so important?

A. Prevention efforts are still important because the worldwide response to HIV and AIDS has not matched the scale of the disease. 40 million people are infected. Prevention is important because no one needs to contract HIV. Education can prevent infection. The UN believes that effective education programmes can significantly cut infection rates.

I want the media and business to show global leadership by educating the world to prevent the spread of HIV. Education can also lessen the stigma associated with the illness. Only with significant and widespread education campaigns can you hope to counter stigma. Education destroys prejudice and ignorance. Education encourages tolerance.

Q. At the June 2006 U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, you made a great comment, noting that over the course of the week, 43,000 people were infected with HIV but that this fact does not garner the media attention that results when the same number of chickens are infected with Bird Flu. Do you worry that a false sense of complacency is affecting media coverage and making our disease response suffer?

A. Yes. There is complacency in the media. There has been a great deal of suffering reported in the media: earthquakes, tsunamis & hurricanes, not to mention the Iraq war and Afghanistan. But it’s worth remembering that the numbers killed by AIDS last year would have equaled a dozen Asian tsunamis, or dozens of earthquakes.

The reality is that infection levels have not reduced. While treatment is prolonging life in some parts of the world, the reality is that in many parts of the developing world, HIV infection rates are rising and AIDS still leads to premature death.

Q. Since its January 2004 launch, GMAI has expanded rapidly. Is there room for additional growth and if so, how do you propose generating it?

A. Yes, there is always room for growth and improvement. We want every media company to be involved. There is endless scope for input from everyone, great and small. We want HIV education and prevention information to be part of the DNA of every media company.

And those roles extend to advertising and PR, not just creative producers. MTVN’s Staying Alive HIV and AIDS education campaign has just collaborated with the world’s leading advertising agencies to produce HIV prevention messages. They are not only being aired across MTV’s web and mobile platforms, but are also being picked up by 35 other broadcasters and content distributors globally.

We offer Staying Alive material rights free to all broadcasters, so that our Staying Alive programming regularly reaches over 90 percent of the top 50 heavily AIDS impacted countries.

Q. What can non-media companies do to ameliorate disease misperceptions and stigma surrounding those infected with and affected by the disease?

A. There is a role for everyone: workplace programmes, community outreach programmes, local partnerships. The key is not to reinvent the wheel but to seek advice about what you can do. There are people that companies can reach out to, such as the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, who can advise and suggest roles in any country or market around the world.

Q. You’ve been an important part of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria family since its earliest days. As someone who fully understands why AIDS is a business issue, how would you make this pitch to businesses that are not yet convinced the disease impacts them?

A. I’d say that getting involved is good for business and good for employee morale. It helps communities and it shows leadership. Companies working in high-impact countries note improvements in productivity, morale and staff turnover. The more infection is prevented, the better for all. We’re all in this together.

Bill Roedy
Mr. Bill Roedy is the Vice Chairman for MTV Networks, and President of MTV Networks International (MTVNI).

Through his extensive travels and advocacy, Mr. Roedy was invited to become a Special Representative for UNAIDS in 1998. He leads MTVNI’s global efforts to promote HIV education, fight complacency and lessen the stigma attached to the disease, through the Staying Alive  campaign. Under his leadership, MTVNI has produced award-winning AIDS-related documentaries, concerts, discussion programmes and public service announcements.

In April 2005, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Mr. Roedy as Chair of the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI) Leadership Committee. The GMAI was launched in 2004 to galvanise media organisations to play a stronger role in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The Leadership Committee develops the overall vision and priorities of the GMAI and supports the creation of local, regional and global media campaigns and partnerships.

Mr. Roedy has also served as Chair of the Global Business Coalition (GBC) on HIV and AIDS from 2000-2002. In 2002 US President Bill Clinton, on behalf of the GBC and the International AIDS Trust, honoured him with the Award for Business Excellence for his outstanding contributions. In November 2004 Mr. Roedy accepted the International Emmy Founders Award at the 32 nd International Emmy Awards, for revolutionising music on television and supporting the fight against AIDS around the world.

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) mobilizes international business against HIV/AIDS and recently added tuberculosis and malaria to its mandate. The rapidly expanding alliance of 220 international companies is dedicated to combating these epidemics through the business sector’s unique skills and expertise. The official focal point of the private sector delegation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GBC maintains offices in New York, Paris, Geneva, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Moscow, Kiev and Beijing. In August 2006, the organization began a merger process with Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA) to strengthen business engagement in Eastern Europe and the former CIS.

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Links:

More information on UNAIDS Private Partnerships

There are literally thousands of AIDS-related programmes around the world. With such a wide variety of approaches and methodologies, sharing information about initiatives that have been successful is crucial to the ongoing development and improvement of AIDS programming.

To help drive the knowledge-sharing process, in 1997 UNAIDS began the production of its ‘Best Practice Collection’— a series of publications ranging from guidelines, updates and policy papers to case studies, handbooks, and examinations of particular challenges and responses, all designed to promote learning, share experience and empower people and partners engaged in the AIDS response.

“Knowing what works and what doesn’t, under what circumstances or cultural constraints, can help shape current and future programmes for AIDS,” said Alistair Craik, manager of the Collection. “The Best Practice Collection provides a wealth of ‘hands on’ experience that is useful and may be replicated.”

The UNAIDS Collection provides examples of successful programmes from around the world which have been identified to inspire policy makers, programme managers and other stakeholders in their response to AIDS.

The Collection currently offers nearly 140 titles in English, 100 of which are also available in French, 75 in Spanish and 50 in Russian language editions. External evaluations conducted in 1999 and again in 2003 showed that the UNAIDS Best Practice Collection is a widely respected source of information for people working in the field of AIDS including non-governmental organizations, Ministries of Health and communities.

“The Collection includes some unconventional approaches such as collaborating with traditional healers in the AIDS repsonse.These examples of ‘best practice’ can help people to find new and effective ways to tackle the epidemic which they may not have been aware of before,” he added.

The UNAIDS Collection covers a wide range of topics from HIV workplace programmes to HIV prevention among injecting drug users and from programmes focusing on men who have sex with men to the faith-based response to AIDS.

Ideas for new Best Practice publications come from various sources including people engaged in the response, local, national, and international policy and programme decision makers. UNAIDS also works in close collaboration with its ten cosponsoring UN organizations to further develop HIV-related information within their area of concern. UNAIDS has collaborated with UNHCR and ILO to produce two publications focusing on HIV programmes in refugee camps and in the workplace.

To be considered as a ‘best practice’ for the UNAIDS Collection, a programme must fulfill a number of fundamental criteria. First, the programme must be ethically sound. It must also be relevant, cost effective, sustainable and replicable. Best Practice publications are reviewed by experts within UNAIDS and from other UN system organizations.

“We distribute copies of new titles free of charge to people engaged in the AIDS response in low- and middle-income countries. Full text versions are also available on the UNAIDS website,” Craik said.

Over the next months, UNAIDS will be featuring a selection of programmes from the Best Practice Collection on the Web.

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Links:

View Best Practice Collection

A couple kiss on the stairs – the caption “to embrace” slides across the TV screen. An expectant mother tenderly touches her stomach – the text “to love” appears over the image. Women, men, boys, girls, friends, lovers, families – all depicted in a 30-second TV spot to underline messages on AIDS to encourage viewers to “always protect yourself and those you love”.

This awareness-raising public service announcement from Argentina produced in 2004 is just one of nearly 200 television spots that have been brought together in a special 10-year anthology DVD of televised public service announcements about HIV from the Americas region produced by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The two-disc set, entitled “VIHdeo America”, presents spots produced from 1995-2005 and intends to share information, history and experiences about the use of TV for HIV campaigns to help encourage new approaches to AIDS communications.

From Argentina to Venezuela, Chile to Uruguay, the compilation contains examples from 24 countries, and is directed primarily at people involved in communicating about AIDS. In the special fact sheet accompanying the DVDs, the producers underline their hopes that the compilation will help communicators working across the region analyze and evaluate the work that has been produced over the last ten years, to better inform future campaigns using television media.

“In our region, countries develop mass media campaigns against HIV almost every year. Posters and brochures sometimes circulate, but TV spots seldom cross the national boundaries, as TV tends to broadcast only within the national territory. Neighbouring countries often have no idea of what other countries have developed for TV. “VIHdeo America” helps to break this silence,” said Paulo Lyra from PAHO who was involved in the production of the DVD. “TV is a particularly expensive media, particularly in countries that pay for air time. This makes it imperative to learn about how to best use this media for future communications on AIDS,” he added.

VIHdeo America’s producers underline that the anthology is not intended as a ‘showcase’ of best practices, moreover, they stress that critical analysis of the slots, particularly some of those produced in the early years of the anthology, is absolutely necessary to ensure televised public service announcements on HIV are doing good, not harm.

“As much as it can have a positive effect, we know that communication can also fuel stigma and discrimination. For instance, some of the older spots contain “fear appeals” or appear to blame “vulnerable groups”. What we need to do is to ask ourselves critically if the newer spots have broken with that tradition and building on these experiences, how can we ensure future spots are breaking down discrimination and reaching the people who need them most,” Lyra said.

With titles such as ‘Love Safely’, ‘Welcome to Condom County’ and ‘Know AIDS-NO AIDS’ the clips included in the anthology portray an extremely wide variety of scenarios and situations. All clips have subtitles in English and Spanish. Some are serious in tone, some use humour to get the message across. “ Brazil, for instance, produced a series, “Braulio” about a man speaking to his penis which is hilarious. This happened in 1995 and was quite revolutionary at the time. But they did it and it’s an example of how AIDS communicators can expand their horizons,” said Lyra.

“Communications can be a powerful tool in the AIDS response. Analysis of what has and hasn’t worked over the last years can help communicators find bigger and better ways to get the right messages across,” said UNAIDS’ Head of Public Affairs and Communication, Annemarie Hou.

“VIHdeo America” is available for order through the Pan American Health Organization. For more information, visit www.paho.org/vihdeoamerica.

 

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All photo credits: vihdeoamericas/PAHO