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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New Ethiopian Radio Program Encourages Safer Sexual Behavior To Prevent HIV/AIDSTwenty-six Episode Dramatic Series Appeals to Young Adults at RiskBALTIMORE—A new radio serial drama that begins airing Sunday, Nov. 25 in Ethiopia is designed to encourage young adults to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies by depicting characters engaging in either risky or safe sexual behavior. Ethiopia has been devastated by HIV/AIDS. According to the CDC, Ethiopia has just one percent of the world's population, but nine percent of the worldwide cases of HIV/AIDS. The disease has orphaned more than 700,000 Ethiopian children and more than a million people have died due to AIDS. Journey Through Life is a 26-episode series that uses the principles of “entertainment-education” to promote healthy behavior among the listening audience. The program is designed to appeal to young married couples and unmarried adolescents in urban and semi-urban areas of the country. “We are hoping Journey Through Life will help Ethiopians understand just how easy it is to become infected with the AIDS virus,” said Araya Demissie, country representative in Ethiopia for Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP). “But we also hope the program will convey just how easy it is to protect yourself.” JHU/CCP, with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development, provided technical assistance to National Office of Population in Ethiopia in developing the new radio series. JHU/CCP is a leader in the field of entertainment-education, which uses music and television, radio, and live drama to deliver public health messages. JHU/CCP is working to increase the ability of African countries to write and produce high quality entertainment-education programming. In Journey Through Life, one of the sub-plots involves a husband and wife becoming ill after the husband has an affair with a prostitute. They soon discover that the husband contracted HIV/AIDS from the prostitute and they are both infected. The story also examines the plight of orphans in Ethiopia, including those orphaned when their parents died of AIDS and children that are abandoned as a result of unwanted pregnancies. Public health messages are interwoven throughout the story to encourage the audience to practice family planning, be tested for HIV/AIDS, and protect themselves from HIV/AIDS by abstaining from sex, being faithful to one partner or using a condom. “By portraying characters the audience can identify with in an entertaining format, we hope to encourage healthier behavior,” said Demissie. “Some characters are vulnerable, but others are empowered as they take steps to protect against unwanted pregnancies and diseases.” JHU/CCP is a pioneer in the field of strategic, research-based communication for behavior change and health promotion that has helped transform the theory and practice of public health communications. With representatives in more than 30 countries, JHU/CCP has been a leader in the development of projects based on systematic needs assessments and clear strategies for positioning and presenting the benefits of health interventions to appropriate audiences. For more information contact: Kim Martin at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA. Tel: 410 659-6140; Fax: 410 659-6266 e-mail: press@jhuccp.org. |
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