BROADCASTERS FIGHT AIDS

African Media Help Provide Lifesaving Information

A critical barrier to fighting HIV/AIDS in developing countries is a lack of information. Many people don’t know how to protect themselves and their families from becoming infected, and they don’t know about the options available to people living with the disease.

To help disseminate more and better information on HIV/AIDS in Africa, we joined other funders to support the Kaiser Family Foundation’s African Broadcast Media Partnership Against HIV/AIDS. The partnership brings together 41 television and radio broadcast companies in 25 countries, and it will eventually expand to all 52 African countries. Each broadcaster will devote one hour of airtime every day to HIV/AIDS-related content.

The partnership launched its first campaign in December with a series of public-service announcements based on the theme “An HIV-Free Generation … It Begins With You.” In the future, it will address a range of themes with a variety of programs, including long-form documentaries and dramas that weave HIV/AIDS messages into their storylines.

The goal of this ground-breaking continent-wide campaign is to help Africans better understand the disease and what they can do to fight it.