Press Release: Africa Goal Campaign: Using the 2010 World Cup to address HIV issues in Africa

Pretoria, South Africa, 17 March 2010 (SAfAIDS Media)-For the first time that the World Cup is being played in Africa, the ‘AIDS Highway’ will witness a spectacular combination of the screening of the matches in conjunction with the screening of HIV and AIDS information videos from June 11th to 11th July 2010. From Kenya, to Johannesburg, the ‘AIDS Highway’ goes through Eastern and Southern Africa, where increased mobility and migration in conjunction with rising disposable incomes and the associated escalation of transactional sex along this central transport and trade route were a major contributors to the spread of HIV through the region.

Dubbed the Africa Goal Campaign, the initiative will witness a team driving from Nairobi, Kenya down to Johannesburg South Africa, projecting live World Cup football games on a retractable screen along the journey. The Africa Goal team will encounter a diverse range of audiences and peoples along a route that encompasses key localities in the region with the highest HIV prevalence in the World. Every afternoon or evening throughout the duration of the tournament, with the help of Digital Satellite Television and a projector, speakers, and a DC/AC inverter, the team will screen the live 2010 World Cup games. Before every live game, the team shall screen HIV and AIDS awareness media supplied by SAfAIDS, UN-AIDS and, when possible, by local NGOs. Taking into account cultural sensitivities, the videos will vary depending on the countries and the demographic structure of the audience. While the educational videos will be watched by all the football fans, the largest sector of the football audience is people aged between 15 and 49, correlating with the age sector most severely affected by HIV and AIDS.

In the spirit of the World Cup, the Africa Goal vision is to harness the energy and passion of the games to promote increased awareness about the HIV epidemic which has impacted upon the region so dramatically. The main focus will be mainly on HIV prevention, taking a holistic definition of prevention to include the promotion of knowing one’s HIV status; safer sex practices; positive prevention and acknowledging ART as a component of prevention.

With the majority of the audience not having seen live World Cup matches on a big screen before, the occasion will be a highly memorable one and HIV information disseminated at the games will, therefore, imprint on the memories of the viewers and serve as a vital reminder as to how each and every person must play their part in reducing HIV prevalence in the region.

http://www.safaids.net/?q=node/1266