|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 16, 2004
Hopkins CCP To Use New Pfizer Foundation Funding to Partner
with Haitian Organizations on HIV/AIDS Prevention Project
Partners Include Faith-Based Workers and Youth Leaders BALTIMORE — An innovative and effective HIV/AIDS prevention program that is helping Africa combat the virus' spread will now be used to help turn around Haiti's HIV/AIDS epidemic, thanks to a grant from the Pfizer Foundation.
Pfizer awarded a grant to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP) to translate and make culturally appropriate the successful Journey of Hope kit, which is a practical and participatory life-skills tool that promotes culturally acceptable dialogue about HIV/AIDS and sexuality. In addition to Haiti and Ghana, Journey of Hope, which was originally developed by a priest in Tanzania, is being considered for adaptation in Ethiopia and Uganda. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supports the Journey of Hope kit through the Stop AIDS Love Life project in Ghana.
Haiti has one of the worst HIV prevalence rates in Latin America and the Caribbean with nearly 5 percent of the general population infected. It is estimated that 85% of HIV-positive adults in the Caribbean live in either Haiti or the Dominican Republic. Haiti also faces high rates of unemployment, political instability, and a lack of healthcare coverage.
The Journey of Hope kit uses the concept of a rising flood to illustrate the HIV/AIDS pandemic. By boarding a "prevention boat" — symbolizing either abstinence, faithfulness, or condom use — individuals can survive the flood. The kit is used to mobilize a network of community and faith-based organizations in highly participatory and entertaining ways.
Beginning in January, CCP plans to translate the Journey of Hope kit into Haitian Creole and make other changes as recommended by a broad group of government agencies and nongovernmental organizations. CCP will then select five Haitian organizations to receive training on using the Journey of Hope kit. Those organizations will train about 200 community-based outreach workers, including religious and youth leaders involved in HIV/AIDS activities.
The Pfizer Foundation is an independent charitable foundation established by Pfizer Inc in 1953. The Foundation's mission is to promote access to quality health care and education, to nurture innovation and to support the community involvement of Pfizer people. The grant to CCP is part of a larger effort by the Foundation to provide support for HIV-training and capacity-building in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Through this and other public-private initiatives, the Pfizer Foundation hopes to help stem the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and demonstrate its commitment to being part of the solution.
With representatives in more than 30 countries, Johns Hopkins' CCP is a pioneer in the field of strategic, research-based communication programs for behavior change and health promotion that have helped transform the theory and practice of public health communication. More than one-quarter of CCP's annual budget is spent on HIV/AIDS interventions in developing countries.
| 
© 2005 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.