November 15, 2007

Raising HIV/AIDS Awareness in Haiti

The Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS (CBMP) and the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI) have announced a new partnership initiative to make HIV/AIDS content and information available in Haitian Creole on radio and television programs in the country (www.kff.org, 11/14).

Beginning on December 1, World AIDS Day, Haitian broadcasters will be able to air translated HIV/AIDS-related programming from the CBMP’s LIVE UP campaign, a Caribbean-focused AIDS initiative, including public service ads and long-form programming.

“Haiti has been hard-hit by HIV/AIDS, and it is important that we empower our population with lifesaving information. Now, we are pleased to join resources with our media colleagues from across the Caribbean to harness the power of radio and television to encourage Haitians to be informed, get tested, and protect themselves,” said Roosevelt Jean Francois, president of the Centre de Communications Sur le SIDA (CECOSIDA), a national media organization based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

In addition to the radio and television programming, a regional mobile company, Digicel Group, is working to provide its mobile customers in Haiti with access to HIV/AIDS information via their cell phones. Another company, YeleCinema, is working with the GMAI and CBMP to get awareness messages to poor individuals in Haiti who don’t have television access by broadcasting messages during outdoor film festivals and special events.

About 3.8 percent of adults in Haiti are living with HIV, according to UNAIDS—the highest prevalence in the Western Hemisphere. Approximately 190,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the country.