Features Editor Sarah Tikiwa - Sunday Mail
"ZIMBABWE-Proven Leadership in HIV Prevention: Scale Up Treatment, Care and Support Now" is the country’s theme for the 2008 World Aids Day commemorations.Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world tomorrow in commemorating World Aids Day amid calls for increased efforts in improving treatment, care and support for people infected and affected with HIV.
This year’s theme was adopted following consultations, and seeks to acknowledge the positive gains the country has achieved in the area of HIV and Aids. Zimbabwe registered a significant decline in the HIV prevalence rate from 33 percent in 1999 to the current 15,6 percent.
At a Press briefing in Harare recently, the chairperson of the World Aids Day planning committee, Pastor Maxwell Kapachawo, said while acknowledging Zimbabwe’s proven leadership in HIV prevention there were still gaps in the provision of treatment, care and support for those infected and affected."Our call for action is for all stakeholders to take the lead in issues of treatment, care and support," he said.This year’s main event will be held at Chipadze Stadium in Bindura where about 5 000 people are expected to witness various activities to mark World Aids Day.
Meanwhile, Power FM presenter, Leander Kandiero, will tomorrow take the lead in line with the global HIV and Aids leadership, as he embarks on a non-stop 24-hour broadcast in solidarity with all those infected and affected by the virus.Kandiero — who will be fasting throughout the day — said he hoped that the information carried throughout the day-long broadcast would help counter the stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV.His initiative is the first of its kind and demonstrates how being innovative can significantly contribute towards addressing HIV and Aids.
The broadcast which will start at midnight, will feature interviews with people living with HIV, officials in Aids service organisations, phone-ins by members of the public, and highlights on key facts on HIV in Zimbabwe.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
One-Man 24-Hour Marathon Broadcast on HIV & AIDS - WAD 2008: Take the Lead
For the first time ever in Zimbabwe, and indeed in world history, a 24-hour marathon broadcast on HIV and AIDS!
The brainchild of POWER FM, a musical station wholly owned by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings, the 24-Hour marathon broadcast to be aired on Power FM presents Zimbabweans with an opportunity to reflect, talk about, question as well as map the way forward regarding the country's responses to HIV and AIDS.
Twenty four years since the first HIV case was detected in Zimbabwe, Power FM and SAfAIDS have partnered on this initiative due to their firm belief that, despite the progress Zimbabwe has made in the past 10 years, there is need to constantly go back to the drawing table and come up with new ways of dealing with the epidemic, still one of the leading causes of death in Zimbabwe, and the whole of southern Africa.
Zimbabwe has managed to record a decline in HIV prevalence from over 30 percent, 10 years ago, to the current 15,6 percent.
"This One-Man 24-Hour marathon broadcast is a brilliant and innovative way of keeping HIV and AIDS issues on the agenda. We can only applaud POWER FM and Leander Kandiero, the 24-Hour man show presenter, for coming up with such an excellent idea said SAfAIDS deputy director, Ms Sara Page. "As SAfAIDS, we are proud to be associated with the whole idea and look forward to providing accurate and relevant information on HIV and AIDS and TB during the broadcast."
"What this shows is that each and every one of us can do something to make a difference. We can all take the lead to make a difference in our homes, workplaces, communities and even in our country," she added.
This year, World AIDS Day is being commemorated under the theme of leadership, which Kandiero says was one of the reasons he decided to take the lead and commit himself to being on air throughout the 1st of December with the aim of raising the profile of HIV and AIDS issues and providing a platform for people living with HIV and AIDS to have their voices heard.
"It is just about using your talent and your space to make a difference. If each and every one of us in this country contributes something, be it time, or money, or even knowledge and information, Zimbabwe can only continue to record declines in HIV incidence while people living with HIV can also become more positive about themselves and as a result, live longer," he said.
It is hoped that corporates, individuals, opinion leaders and all Zimbabweans will tune in to the broadcast and participate in various ways, even if it is to buy medicines for those in need of them.
POWER FM says it firmly believes in its moral obligation to give back to the communities that make up its listenership by supporting such innovative and worthwhile initiatives like the One-Man 24 Hour Marathon Broadcast.
So come World AIDS Day on the 1st of December 2008, you are advised to "Take the Lead and be the first to tune in to Power FM."
For more information please contact:
Beatrice Tonhodzayi
SAfAIDS
Tel: + 263-4- 336193/4 or 307898
Email: beatrice@safaids.org.zw
Or
Tinashe Chiname
POWER FM
Tel: + 263- 54- 226000
The brainchild of POWER FM, a musical station wholly owned by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings, the 24-Hour marathon broadcast to be aired on Power FM presents Zimbabweans with an opportunity to reflect, talk about, question as well as map the way forward regarding the country's responses to HIV and AIDS.
Twenty four years since the first HIV case was detected in Zimbabwe, Power FM and SAfAIDS have partnered on this initiative due to their firm belief that, despite the progress Zimbabwe has made in the past 10 years, there is need to constantly go back to the drawing table and come up with new ways of dealing with the epidemic, still one of the leading causes of death in Zimbabwe, and the whole of southern Africa.
Zimbabwe has managed to record a decline in HIV prevalence from over 30 percent, 10 years ago, to the current 15,6 percent.
"This One-Man 24-Hour marathon broadcast is a brilliant and innovative way of keeping HIV and AIDS issues on the agenda. We can only applaud POWER FM and Leander Kandiero, the 24-Hour man show presenter, for coming up with such an excellent idea said SAfAIDS deputy director, Ms Sara Page. "As SAfAIDS, we are proud to be associated with the whole idea and look forward to providing accurate and relevant information on HIV and AIDS and TB during the broadcast."
"What this shows is that each and every one of us can do something to make a difference. We can all take the lead to make a difference in our homes, workplaces, communities and even in our country," she added.
This year, World AIDS Day is being commemorated under the theme of leadership, which Kandiero says was one of the reasons he decided to take the lead and commit himself to being on air throughout the 1st of December with the aim of raising the profile of HIV and AIDS issues and providing a platform for people living with HIV and AIDS to have their voices heard.
"It is just about using your talent and your space to make a difference. If each and every one of us in this country contributes something, be it time, or money, or even knowledge and information, Zimbabwe can only continue to record declines in HIV incidence while people living with HIV can also become more positive about themselves and as a result, live longer," he said.
It is hoped that corporates, individuals, opinion leaders and all Zimbabweans will tune in to the broadcast and participate in various ways, even if it is to buy medicines for those in need of them.
POWER FM says it firmly believes in its moral obligation to give back to the communities that make up its listenership by supporting such innovative and worthwhile initiatives like the One-Man 24 Hour Marathon Broadcast.
So come World AIDS Day on the 1st of December 2008, you are advised to "Take the Lead and be the first to tune in to Power FM."
For more information please contact:
Beatrice Tonhodzayi
SAfAIDS
Tel: + 263-4- 336193/4 or 307898
Email: beatrice@safaids.org.zw
Or
Tinashe Chiname
POWER FM
Tel: + 263- 54- 226000
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