PRNewswire - November 17, 2003

LONDON and NEW YORK, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- BBC World Service Trust, the international charitable arm of the BBC, in partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation, a leader in health information and research, and Viacom, one of the largest media companies in the world, today launched a year-long campaign to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean.

With support and expertise from Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation, this partnership will initiate the BBC World Service's first-ever public education effort tackling HIV/AIDS. It is also the first time that two of the world's leading media companies and a private nonprofit foundation have joined together in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Public education programs and services produced under the partnership will be made available rights-free to other broadcasters. This collaboration builds on the success of the Viacom and Kaiser Family Foundation's KNOW HIV/AIDS campaign, with additional help provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Short educational spots will be broadcast three times per day at peak listening hours in eight languages. A five-minute special call-in segment will also be produced as part of the weekly English-language program Postmark Africa. The spots have been designed to tackle the most pressing needs with regards to HIV/AIDS and use a mixture of humor and drama to get the messages across. The target audience is 19-25 year-olds and the emphasis is on men, since they are the main drivers of the epidemic in this region. The spots will focus on three main issues: consistent condom use, risk assessment and stigma.

The spots are a part of a wider global effort on HIV/AIDS by the BBC World Service, beginning November 16 in 43 languages. Radio has the greatest penetration of any medium in sub-Saharan Africa, reaching far greater audiences than either television or print. The reach of the World Service in Africa and the Caribbean is as high as 40 percent of the population in certain countries. The BBC World Service Trust is also conducting impact assessment and baseline research, which has already taken place in 15 cities in Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania.

A variety of longer format programs will also be dedicated to HIV/AIDS during the period of the campaign. The BBC World Service Trust, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Viacom will work jointly to explore opportunities for the production of extended format programming.

"Listeners were asked what were the important HIV/AIDS issues in their countries. Over 1,000 letters, texts and e-mails have been received, most of which expressed an urgent need for accurate information," said Roy Head, Director of Health for the BBC World Service Trust. "This campaign is responding to those requests, and offering listeners models of safer behavior. And this is where broadcasters have a crucial role to play. The BBC reaches 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, Viacom reaches huge audiences across the U.S. and Europe, and if we can convince other big media players to join us, we may be able to persuade enough people to change behavior to make a real impact on this epidemic."

"The reach of the BBC World Service Trust in Africa and the Caribbean makes it ideally positioned to communicate effective health messages to millions of people at risk of HIV/AIDS," said Tina Hoff, Vice President and Director of Entertainment Media Partnerships at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "Direct and easy to understand information is essential in the battle to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS."

"We are excited about the opportunity to work with the BBC World Service Trust and the Kaiser Family Foundation to help deliver lifesaving messages to Africa and the Caribbean," said Carl Folta, Senior Vice President for Corporate Relations at Viacom. "Today's broadcast marks an exciting extension in our ongoing work to combat AIDS around the world. Through additional partnerships, we hope to reach even more people and regions facing this devastating disease."

Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of any region in the world. Nearly 30 million or 70 percent of all those with the disease live in sub-Saharan Africa, with more new infections and AIDS deaths in 2002 than any other part of the world. The Caribbean has also been severely impacted and is the second-most affected region.

BBC World Service Trust

BBC World Service Trust is an independent charity promoting health, education and social development through the innovative use of the media. The Trust is hosting a three day conference on HIV/AIDS Forum on November 24, 2003. The forum will be launched with a keynote address by Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund, and a pre-recorded address by former President Clinton. The forum will be an interactive HIV/AIDS communications master class highlighting examples from successful HIV campaigning around the world and focusing on Africa. Guests and core participants of this forum are the Trust's African partners in the Africa HIV/AIDS campaign program. While the focus of this forum is practical: knowledge sharing and collaboration with and among our African partners, we see a larger opportunity. Going forward, we hope this network will strengthen the resources that our African partners can draw upon to support their national AIDS strategies and enhance the ability of the World Service Trust to assist in the fight against AIDS across the African continent. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust

Viacom

Viacom is a leading global media company, with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, outdoor advertising, and online. With programming that appeals to audiences in every demographic category across virtually all media, the company is a leader in the creation, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, music, and comedy. Viacom's well-known brands include CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, BET, Paramount Pictures, Infinity Broadcasting, Viacom Outdoor, UPN, Spike TV, TV Land, CMT: Country Music Television, Comedy Central, Showtime, Blockbuster, and Simon & Schuster. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at http://www.viacom.com.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, independent, national health care philanthropy dedicated to providing information and analysis on the major health issues facing the nation to policymakers, the media and the general public. The Foundation's work is focused in three main areas: health policy, media and public education, and health and development in South Africa. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.

KNOW HIV/AIDS

KNOW HIV/AIDS is an unprecedented, global media initiative that combats HIV/AIDS through public service messages (PSAs), television and radio programming, and free print and online content. The multi-year effort combines the public health expertise of the Kaiser Family Foundation with the power of Viacom's media brands and unmatched audience relationships to foster awareness of the disease and its prevention. During 2002, the first year of the initiative, Viacom committed in excess of $120 million in advertising across its television, radio and billboards in the U.S. and around the world toward the initiative. To date, more than five million people have visited http://www.knowhivaids.org and some 200,000 have called one of the toll-free hotlines supported by the initiative. Support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is helping to seed the international expansion of this initiative, including this project with the BBC World Service Trust.

SOURCE Viacom

Web Site: http://www.viacom.com

http://www.knowhivaids.org

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust

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