PRESS CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL MEDIA AIDS INITIATIVE

“The media can save more lives than physicians can”, Peter Piot, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press conference, following the launch of the Global Media AIDS Initiative.  Several leaders of media corporations participated, as well, with Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, moderating.

The Global Media AIDS Initiative, jointly sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has a decade of experience working with media on social campaigns, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), with financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will explore how the media can create long-lasting public education campaigns and generate further attention to the pandemic.  More than 20 leaders from media corporations participated in this morning’s round-table meeting, which was followed by a luncheon hosted by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Mr. Piot said today’s meeting was one of the most important events in the 20-year history of the fight against AIDS.  Consensus had been reached in establishing a global resource centre on which smaller networks and media organizations could draw for material free of charge.  Agreement had been reached to scale up the global campaign on AIDS awareness.  Among suggestions made was one from Bill Roedy, President, MTV Networks International, to organize a “Creativity Summit” to explore what works best in awareness campaigns.

Drew Altman, President and CEO, Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, said this morning’s summit had been an “amazing” meeting, during which all attending media leaders had made major commitments towards expanding public knowledge and understanding about HIV/AIDS.  He announced a follow-on initiative by UNAIDS and the Kaiser Foundation to mobilize the world media.

Highlighting some commitments made, he said Gazprom-Media would address HIV/AIDS through all its properties in the Russian Federation.  Viacom Inc. would spend $200 million this year in getting the message across, including during the Super Bowl.  Black Entertainment Television and MTV had plans to reach at-risk youth.  CCTV (China) would devote more time to AIDS across all channels.  All participants had signed a declaration, recognizing that the world’s media were in a unique position to help fight the AIDS epidemic.  Those and others were major initiatives bringing the fight against AIDS to a new level.

Asked whether consensus existed about the content of the media message, Mr. Altman answered there was no one content for messages.  They had to be culturally specific.  It was, however, important that any campaign was comprehensive, large and targeted.  Messages should also be integrated in news programming and in popular shows.

Answering a correspondent’s question, Robert Johnson, Founder and CEO, Black Entertainment Television, said in the United States, African Americans bore a heavier burden where AIDS was concerned than other groups.  His company had dedicated $10.5 million over the last year to combating the scourge.  It had also leveraged its “considerable influence” with African American entertainers and celebrities to help in getting the message across.  He would make those messages available to countries in the sub-Saharan region.  AIDS was as much a threat to world peace as were nuclear proliferation and human rights violations.  In his company, AIDS would be a priority.

Asked how the population in the Arab world could be targeted, Pierre El-Daher, Chairman and General Manager, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International, said the situation in Lebanon differed from the rest of the “Arab world” as media in his country were mostly in private hands.  In other countries on the peninsula, national broadcasting corporations did not talk about AIDS, nor about anything else their governments did not want them to talk about.  Introducing an AIDS message was, therefore, tough.  However, he had noticed that the attitude about AIDS was changing.  “Time will be on our side”, he said.

* *** *