AFEW: Projects >> 5^th Mass Media Campaign on Safer Sex & Solidarity with PLWHA (Russian Federation) >> Press-Release

Press-Release

"HIV. Learn more" - The first ever Russian mass media campaign to promote solidarity with people living with HIV/AIDS

The first ever Russian Mass Media Campaign on Solidarity with people living with HIV/AIDS is launched today, 14 May 2004, by the Russian non-governmental organisation FOCUS-MEDIA Foundation and the international humanitarian public health organisation AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW). The campaign was created with the support of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. The campaign's main goal is to take the first step in teaching people to live together in the world with HIV/AIDS by providing extensive and relevant information about HIV and AIDS in order to help people to cope with their personal fears and prejudices. The campaign addresses the general population.

The Russian Federation (RF) has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world. According to official statistics six Russians are diagnosed with HIV infection every hour. Experts believe the real figures may be around three to five times higher*. According to a recent survey conducted by the campaign planners in August 2003, approximately 70% of Muscovites feel fear, disgust or anger towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). 48% state that they try to avoid contact with PLWHA, and 46% demand tougher measures to isolate them from society. Children born with HIV are especially vulnerable. More than 55% of respondents say that they would transfer their children to a different nursery school if they knew that there was a child with HIV there.

Pervasive stigma has surrounded HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the pandemic. HIV-related stigma and the accompanying discrimination have undermined interventions to combat the epidemic at the local, national and even global level. Stigma and discrimination remain key obstacles to the success of ongoing prevention, care and support initiatives. The RF is not the exception - PLWHA experience isolation from the general public around the world.

Worldwide experience demonstrates that levels of stigmatisation and discrimination towards PLWHA decrease when people possess a more accurate body of knowledge regarding the disease. This campaign is unique as it was developed with the active participation of PLWHA, in an attempt to bridge the gap between their own feelings and experiences, and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS prevalent in society. The personal experiences of those who have been in contact with PLWHA were also used, to help others deal with their emotions when facing similar situations.

The campaign is based on the six years of experience that FOCUS-MEDIA Foundation and AFEW have in organising and implementing Russian mass media campaigns on safer sex.

The campaign "HIV. Learn more", financed by UNICEF, Ford Foundation and Elton John AIDS Foundation, will run for at least eight months and will appear on federal and local TV channels, beginning on 14 May 2004. The campaign consists of two video clips (one general and another specifically about HIV-positive children), outdoor advertisements (on public transport, and billboards in the street), information leaflets (212 000), posters (9000), postcards (20 000), articles in glossy magazines, and various youth events. After being launched in Moscow the campaign will be spread out to the regions.

FOCUS-MEDIA Foundation and AFEW will launch the Solidarity Mass Media Campaign and present informational materials and clips at a presentation that will take place at Rolan cinema, on 14 May 2004, 11 am.

*Federal AIDS Centre of the Russian Federation, UNAIDS, World Bank

Contact Person: Daria Alexeeva
tel: + 7 495 158 12 33
E-mail: Daria_Alexeeva@focus-media.ru