Television programme deals with AIDS

In a move considered to be a breakthrough for a country which is now slowly waking up to HIV/AIDS, Angola's only television station screened the first of a series of HIV/AIDS programmes this week. This is the first time in the country that HIV/AIDS has been openly dealt with in this medium. AIDS is relatively "new" in Angola, but now that the 27-year-old civil war is over, misconceptions and ignorance about the disease have resulted in high levels of stigma and discrimination. "AIDS - the picture of an epidemic" is a series of reports with accounts from people living with HIV/AIDS. It portrays the discrimination they have endured at the hands of relatives and friends. Angola Press reported that the programme would also depict government and civil society prevention efforts. The first episode focused on the lack of information on the forms of HIV/AIDS transmission. "Street surveys in Luanda showed that many people still believe that AIDS can be transmitted through hugs, use of cutlery or a kiss," the report said. Four out of 10 women aged between 15-49 held discriminatory attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS, according to a recent nation-wide survey by the UN children's agency UNICEF and the National Institute of Statistics. The only way to overcome such attitudes was to talk openly about the disease, Reverend Ntoni Nzinga, head of the National Council of Churches, told PlusNews. "AIDS is still seen as taboo, just like leprosy was viewed in the old days. People have to understand that it is not a sin and that HIV-positive people did not go out looking for it," he added. But things are slowly starting to change. "My impression is that AIDS awareness is on the increase. The government is talking openly about it and the media are also becoming more active," he noted. According to Nzinga, television programmes such as the one screened on Monday had an important role to play. "We have to educate people and that is something TV can do, if used properly. People watch it all the time when there is power so it can really help spread the message," he said. "The fact that [government] established a national committee on AIDS headed by the president himself [Jose Eduardo dos Santos] has added a new dimension. We will see what kind of action the committee will take to encourage all sectors to become involved in the fight," Nzinga added.