Regional campaign to mark World AIDS Day
THE Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation (CFPA) will launch a new AIDS awareness campaign across the region this week, using a new series of videos it shot in St Lucia and Guyana.
The launch will coincide with activities to mark World AIDS Day on December 1.
The new video messages are especially aimed at young women who, recent studies indicate, are at increased risk for HIV infection.
Additionally, a new poster and pamphlet, both produced in Antigua, will be circulated across more than 20 Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, for which Famplan Jamaica will be responsible.
The printed message complements the video and focus on the maxim ‘Say No’ and is targeted at teenagers. But it also emphasizes the rights of these and other young women to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS.
The spread of HIV/AIDS has been a topical issue in Jamaica with concerns about the spread of the virus especially among children.
A recent United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) report on the trend of the virus in Jamaica, indicates that more than 20,000 Jamaican children are affected by HIV/AIDS.
This prompted UNICEF representative to Jamaica Bertrand Bainvel to urge the relevant authorities to act quickly.
“It is time to stop finger-pointing and turning to those ‘in charge’ to shield us from the threats and halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, condemn violence and fight exclusion, as we are all on the line,” Bainvel said during the mid-term review of the Government of Jamaica/UNICEF Country Programme of Cooperation 2002-2006.
A new UN report, released last week during a regional HIV/AIDS conference in St Kitts, says the Caribbean continues to be the second worst affected region in the world after sub-Saharan Africa.
An estimated 2.4 per cent or 500,000 Caribbean nationals have been infected with HIV/AIDS, according to the UN report.
Individual countries throughout the Caribbean will stage activities to coincide with World AIDS Day.
In Jamaica, Famplan will stage a candlelight vigil at the Turtle River Park in Ocho Rios.
The CFPA itself has an ongoing programme called Fighting AIDS Through Training and Education (FATE), which started over a year ago and is being funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
