CENTRAL AMERICA: Ashley Judd and Salma Hayek Use Their Fame to Focus Attention on HIV/AIDS in Latin America

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Ashley Judd and Salma Hayek Use Their Fame to Focus Attention on HIV/AIDS in Latin America

Lexington Herald Leader (Kentucky) (12.01.2006) - Friday, December 15, 2006
Otis Hart

Ashley Judd and Salma Hayek toured Central America recently to preach HIV/AIDS awareness and promote the one-hour documentary, "Confronting the Pandemic," that aired on the Learning Channel on World AIDS Day. The program deals with HIV/AIDS prevention in Central America.

Judd is goodwill ambassador for YouthAIDS, a nonprofit, grassroots organization that educates young adults worldwide about HIV/AIDS prevention. After traveling to Africa last year, this year she chose Latin America as an area where prevention could avert an African-scale crisis.

YouthAIDS' founder is Kate Roberts, a former advertising executive who described her earlier work as "selling bubble gum and cigarettes to 12-year-olds." She quit that job and launched YouthAIDS to use social marketing techniques to promote HIV prevention.

"Market research shows that lower-income people would choose to skip a meal and instead have their hair braided a certain way," Judd said, who joined the effort four years ago. In response, Roberts began working to educate hairdressers in low-income areas about prevention in the hope they will share the message with their clients.

In "Confronting the Pandemic," as photographers swarm around Judd and Hayek, Judd says, "Wherever we go, the press is there. And this is critical to our mission because stories about YouthAIDS programs promote tolerance and combat stigma."
061215
AD062436

Copyright © 2006 - Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD. The CDC National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention provides the following information as a public service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis does not constitute CDC endorsement. This daily update also includes information from CDC and other government agencies, such as background on Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) articles, fact sheets, press releases and announcements. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update should be cited as the source of the information. Contact the sources of the articles abstracted below for full texts of the articles.

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, AIDS Walk of Orange County, and donations from users like you.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2006. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.