wfn.org | Brazil: Radio Stations United against HIV/AIDS

["Frank Imhoff" <franki@elca.org>]

World AIDS Day Joint Initiative by 230 Radio Stations 

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil/GENEVA, 30 November 2002 (LWI) - Around 230
radio stations in Brazil have declared a joint initiative to
commemorate World AIDS Day on December 1. Their action will make
it possible for private and public radio stations, internet and
school radios to access a free-of-charge pool of programs,
interviews, spots, jingles and music.

The four-hour long material on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs) has been selected from existing programs or
provided by organizations. It will be broadcast on World AIDS Day,
and will remain at the disposal of radio stations for future use.

The project titled "Mutirao Radiofonico," is being coordinated by
Brazilian internet radio, Radio Luteranos Brasil (Brazil Lutheran
Radio) from Rio de Janeiro and a special projects in
communications and arts, OBORI. Project co-initiator Maurmcio
Grille, who is Radio Luteranos Brasil director and deputy
chairperson of Rio de Janeiro's Lutheran congregation, says the
goal of the broadcasting pool is to give listeners reliable
information about HIV/AIDS and STDs.

Contrary to the expectations of many institutions and the World
Health Organization (WHO), that the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Brazil
was uncontrollable, the increase in HIV infections and AIDS cases
had been effectively contained in the Latin-American country by
practical political steps in terms of prevention and drug
treatment, according to Grille. Those affected inclded the more
socially vulnerable groups of the population, who hardly had
access to education and information. AIDS had grown into a disease
with economic and social dimensions. The poor strata of society
were excluded from information through television, newspapers or
magazines, he emphasized.

"Currently the disease mainly affects low-income women in the
inland and small towns," according to Guilherme Fredrich, pastor
of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil
(IECLB) and Mutirco Radioftnico chief coordinator. At the end of
last year, according to figures published by the Joint United
Nations Program on HIVAIDS (UNAIDS), over a third of the estimated
610,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Brazil were women. UNAIDS
and WHO reveal that of the 1.5 million cases in Latin America,
about 30 percent are women. Globally, 42 million people are now
living with HIV/AIDS.

It is indeed the poor in the Brazilian society that see "radio and
their favorite presenter as their big ally and friend," stressed
Fredrich. For those excluded from both the consumer and
information societies, the radio is still a loyal companion "due
to its low cost and direct communication." According to a study
done by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics,
about 90 percent of Brazilian households have a radio set. In
rural areas the radio is the most widespread and important means
of communication.

The project supported by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF),
IELCB and LUC - Brazil region (Luteranos Unidos em
Comunicagao/Lutherans United in Communication) is part of the LWF
campaign against HIV/AIDS launched in May 2002 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The goal is to stimulate an open discussion on HIV/AIDS in the LWF
member churches and to encourage them to take bold action to deal
with the pandemic. The campaign stems from a January 2002 LWF
action plan titled "Compassion, Conversion, Care: Responding as
Churches to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic." It urges support, including
the necessary resources, for an effectiveresponse to the HIV/AIDS
pandemic.

Artur Nunes, coordinator of LUC - Brazil Region, designed the
Mutirao Radiofonico logo, in which the red ribbon and the globe
form a light heart against a dark, circular background. The globe
shows Latin America, with a huge red wave poised to roll over it.
There is an urgent need for action, according to Nunes. The red
wave symbolizes the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which is threatening the
whole of South America. It is "supposed to express the urgency of
the situation." Brazil, with a prominent position on the
continent, targets the presence and action of individuals and
organizations. The designer has expressed this in the red ribbon,
starting to surround the globe with a network of social,
liberating assistance, and in the heart enveloping the globe -
symbolizing the compassion found in living reality.

The material and all information on Mutirao Radioftnico can be
obtained on the Internet under www.luteranosbrasil.com/mutirao or
is sent to the radio stations on CD.

Information on the LWB action plan "Compassion, Conversion, Care:
Responding as Churches to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic" can be found at
http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/LWF-HIV_AIDS.html

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 mllion Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted,
material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the
LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

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