November 30, 2002

RIO DE JANEIRO – Around 230 radio stations in Brazil have declared a joint initiative to commemorate World AIDS Day on December 1. Their action will make it possible for private and public radio stations, internet and school radios to access a free-of-charge pool of programs, interviews, spots, jingles and music.

The four-hour long material on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) has been selected from existing programs or provided by organizations. It will be broadcast on World AIDS Day, and will remain at the disposal of radio stations for future use.

The project titled "Mutirao Radiofonico," is being coordinated by Brazilian internet radio, Radio Luteranos Brasil (Brazil Lutheran Radio) from Rio de Janeiro and a special projects in communications and arts, OBORI. Project co-initiator Maurmcio Grille, who is Radio Luteranos Brasil director and deputy chairperson of Rio de Janeiro's Lutheran congregation, says the goal of the broadcasting pool is to give listeners reliable information about HIV/AIDS and STDs.

Contrary to the expectations of many institutions and the World Health Organization (WHO), that the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Brazil was uncontrollable, the increase in HIV infections and AIDS cases had been effectively contained in the Latin-American country by practical political steps in terms of prevention and drug treatment, according to Grille. Those affected inclded the more socially vulnerable groups of the population, who hardly had access to education and information. AIDS had grown into a disease with economic and social dimensions. The poor strata of society were excluded from information through television, newspapers or magazines, he emphasized.

"Currently the disease mainly affects low-income women in the inland and small towns," according to Guilherme Fredrich, pastor of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB) and Mutirco Radioftnico chief coordinator. At the end of last year, according to figures published by the Joint United Nations Program on HIVAIDS (UNAIDS), over a third of the estimated 610,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Brazil were women. UNAIDS and WHO reveal that of the 1.5 million cases in Latin America, about 30 percent are women. Globally, 42 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS.

It is indeed the poor in the Brazilian society that see "radio and their favorite presenter as their big ally and friend," stressed Fredrich. For those excluded from both the consumer and information societies, the radio is still a loyal companion "due to its low cost and direct communication." According to a study done by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, about 90 percent of Brazilian households have a radio set. In rural areas the radio is the most widespread and important means of communication.

The project supported by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), IELCB and LUC – Brazil region (Luteranos Unidos em Comunicagao/Lutherans United in Communication) is part of the LWF campaign against HIV/AIDS launched in May 2002 in Nairobi, Kenya. The goal is to stimulate an open discussion on HIV/AIDS in the LWF member churches and to encourage them to take bold action to deal with the pandemic. The campaign stems from a January 2002 LWF action plan titled "Compassion, Conversion, Care: Responding as Churches to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic." It urges support, including the necessary resources, for an effectiveresponse to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Artur Nunes, coordinator of LUC – Brazil Region, designed the Mutirao Radiofonico logo, in which the red ribbon and the globe form a light heart against a dark, circular background. The globe shows Latin America, with a huge red wave poised to roll over it. There is an urgent need for action, according to Nunes. The red wave symbolizes the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which is threatening the whole of South America. It is "supposed to express the urgency of the situation." Brazil, with a prominent position on the continent, targets the presence and action of individuals and organizations. The designer has expressed this in the red ribbon, starting to surround the globe with a network of social, liberating assistance, and in the heart enveloping the globe – symbolizing the compassion found in living reality.

The material and all information on Mutirao Radioftnico can be obtained on the Internet under www.luteranosbrasil.com/mutirao or is sent to the radio stations on CD.

Lutheran World Information