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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 30.11.2002 |
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| Brazil: Radio Stations United for HIV/AIDS Information |
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World AIDS Day Joint Initiative by 230 Radio Stations
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil/GENEVA, 30 November 2002 (LWI) – Around 230 radio stations in Brazil declared a joint initiative to commemorate World AIDS Day on December 1. Their action made 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) was selected from existing programs or provided by organizations. It was 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, OBORÉ. Project co-initiator Maurício Grille, who is Rádio 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 included 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 Mutirão Radiofônico 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 out 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), IECLB and LUC – Brazil region (Luteranos Unidos em Comunicaçao/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 effective response 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 entire South American region. 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.
* This contribution is the fifth in a Lutheran World Information (LWI) features’ series on the 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly theme, “For the Healing of the World.” The aim is to highlight the understanding of the assembly theme in the different regional and local contexts of the worldwide Lutheran communion. Focus is on projects dealing with reconciliation and healing. The 21-31 July Assembly will take place in Winnipeg, Canada, hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
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