The Media: A Powerful Tool in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS

Prince Cedza Dlamini

Socially-Conscious Media

- Importance/Power

- Need for more coverage of issues

- Need for better coverage of African issues- Negative bias in news coverage of African

democracies- Unbalanced reporting on African

democracies by U.S. media

HIV/AIDS: The New Plague

The REALITIES: Worldwide

Around 40 million people are infected with HIV, 95% of whom live in developing countries.

Approximately 5 million people were newly infected with the virus last year.

HIV/AIDS has killed more than 20 million people.

Last year, 3.1 million people died of AIDS-related causes.

All data is from 2004 and provided by UNAIDS, World Health Organization, and Henry Kaiser Family Foundation.

AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa and 4th leading cause of death worldwide.

Women are increasingly affected by HIV/AIDS:

Globally almost 50% of adults living with HIV/AIDS are women.

Approximately 1.2 million women and 510,000 children under the age of 15 died of AIDS-related causes worldwide.

An estimated 10.3 million young people worldwide ages 15-24

are living with HIV/AIDS.

Half of all new HIV infections around the world - almost 6,000

infections per day - occur among young people.

The Effects on Youth:

More than 13 million children under the age of 15 have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and this number is

projected to double by 2010.

The REALITIES: Sub-Saharan Africa, the epicenter of the crisis

Currently, 25.8 million adults and children live with AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.

70% of all people infected with HIV live in this region, even though it is home to only 11% of the world's overall population.

13.5 million women in Sub-Saharan Africa live with HIV.

An estimated 3.2 million people in the region were newly infected with HIV.

2.4 million adult and children’s deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa are due to AIDS.

The REALITIES: Economically

AIDS was declared a development crisis by the World Bank in 2000.

An estimated US $7-10 billion a year is needed to address HIV/AIDS epidemic in low and middle-income countries.

Per capita growth in half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa is falling by 0.5%-1.2% each year as a direct result of AIDS.

By 2010, per capita GDP in some of the hardest-hit countries may drop by 8% and per capita consumption may fall even farther.

Health care systems in many countries are overwhelmed by a growing number of HIV/AIDS patients.

Because of limited health care infrastructures and the high cost of medications, the majority of people

living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world lack access to treatment.

Studies forecast that health care costs in hardest hit countries may increase tenfold over the next several

years as a result of the epidemic.

HIV/AIDS overburdens social systems and hinders educational development claiming the lives of thousands of teachers and leading to school

closures.

The epidemic also inhibits agricultural production by reducing investments in irrigation, soil enhancement, and

other capital improvements.

Most notably, it robs the work force of its most productive citizens

Changes in sexual behavior appear to have contributed to the declines in HIV prevalence.

Condom use within casual partnerships has reached high levels (86% among men, and 83% among women)

Recent national and local data indicate that there could have been a reduction in the reported number of sexual

partners.

Violence against women greatly increases their risk of contracting HIV.

HIV/AIDS impacts everyone in Africa including my family.

Makgatho Mandela, my uncle.

Strategy to Combat HIV/AIDS:

- achieve the MDGs

- end violence against women because it contributes and results from HIV/AIDS infection

- end conflict because women suffer as result of conflict

- need for greater male voices in conversation

- more socially-conscious media focusing on HIV/AIDS problem like UPRISING! Magazine

"South Africans fought a noble struggle against apartheid and triumphed to create a new racial democracy in which all people could live in dignity…

Today we find ourselves faced with an even greater threat in the form of HIV and AIDS which threatens our future on a scale never seen before. We are called to fight now on an even greater scale than which we fought apartheid.“ -- Nelson Mandela