IndiaPost.com - Pan-Caribbean effort to spread AIDS awareness

NEW YORK: In conjunction with the opening of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, an unprecedented coalition of more than 50 television and radio broadcasters across the Caribbean will launch "LIVE UP: Love. Protect. Respect" -- the first pan-Caribbean effort led by broadcasters to inspire and empower young people to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDS across the region.

The historic, multi-year campaign will employ positive, inspirational messages to encourage audiences across the Caribbean, especially young people, to better understand their HIV risk and take personal action in response.

The campaign's messages of hope and positive action are being broadcast in 23 nations by members of the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS (CBMP). "LIVE UP is not a campaign of one broadcaster, one country, or even one year," noted CBMP Steering Committee Chair, Dr Allyson Leacock.

"As the first media-led AIDS education effort to span the entire Caribbean region, LIVE UP will involve major broadcasters on every island working together, across different media but with unified messages and a shared approach, to help turn back this disease and protect the health of our young people. LIVE UP focuses on what young people can do to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and how the region can come together to create a more open, supportive environment for people already living with the virus."

All campaign programming encourages listeners and viewers to visit a new website (http://www.iliveup.com) to find information, local resources, and personal stories on HIV/AIDS and related issues. Subsequent phases of the campaign will integrate popular new communications technologies, such as text messaging, in an effort to engage and inform young people.

This historic effort has been joined by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which is lending its support and that of its star players by making HIV/AIDS the official health focus of the tournament. LIVE UP public service announcements will premiere at the opening of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, and will be featured throughout the games.

The Caribbean is the region most affected by HIV/AIDS in this hemisphere, and is second only to sub-Saharan Africa in terms of the impact of the disease. AIDS is a leading cause of death among adults (ages 15-44) in the Caribbean, and 250,000 of the region's residents are living with HIV or AIDS. Half of those are women, and a third are young people between the ages of 15-24.