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New Public Awareness Campaign, '20 Years of Aids is Enough
Birmingham (AL) News
Birmingham, AL
05.31.01
On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta reported for
the first time a rare and deadly cancer in populations of gay men in Los Angeles.
One month later, the New York Times first reported on the phenomenon, providing
a trickle of information on what was to become a deluge of human suffering across
the U.S. and around the world. The disease was -- and is -- Aids, acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome. In the year 2000 alone, 3 million people died of Aids including 2.5
million adults, 1.3 million women, 1.2 million men and 500,000 children under
the age of 15. In the United States, the CDC reports that 438,975 people have
died of Aids, that between 800,000 and 950,000 persons are living with the HIV
infection and that roughly 40,000 new infections occur each year. African-Americans
now represent about one-half of Americans newly diagnosed with Aids and an estimated
54% of the newly HIV-infected. The disease permeates, through sexual contact and
Injected Drug Use (IDU), every strata of the population.
A coalition of twelve leading institutions from across the country that provide
health care, treatment, prevention education and information to millions of Americans
impacted by this epidemic, is launching a national campaign in June that includes
thousands of billboards in more than 40 states, television and radio Public Service
Announcements (PSAs) and a new informational website -- http://www.20YearsofAids.org. The campaign is designed to raise the level of awareness of the HIV/Aids epidemic
and its devastating impact on our nation in the last 20 years; to illustrate for
America's leadership the catastrophic worldwide epidemic and its likely toll on
human lives; to motivate Americans and policymakers to recommit to advances in
treatment, medicine and science; and to engage Americans of all ages in local
activities that allow them to understand that this epidemic touches everyone.
IN SHORT: TO PREVENT....CARE....REMEMBER. The coalition will provide a video
news package on the 20th year of Aids and new public awareness campaign during
two identical satellite feeds on Friday, June 1 and Monday, June 4. The package
includes a suggested anchor intro; a 1:30 produced piece; additional interview
bites with U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, A. Cornelius Baker, executive director
of the Whitman-Walker Clinic (a coalition member), and Pernessa Seele, founder
and CEO of The Balm in Gilead, a coalition member and the only organization in
the U.S. exclusively dedicated to empowering churches against the devastation
of HIV/Aids in the black community; B-roll; the television PSA; and contact information.
HERE'S HOW TO GET THE FEEDS FRIDAY, JUNE 1 MONDAY, JUNE 4 1:30-2:00 P.M. EDT
10:30-11:00 A.M. EDT GALAXY 3, TRANSPONDER C3 (C-BAND) DOWNLINK FREQUENCY 3760H
AUDIO 6.2 AND 6.8 All materials distributed by ECI are for your free and unrestricted
use.
For a copy of the script or a BetaSP copy of the video news package, please
call Caren Kagan Evans or Valerie Ross at 202/835-1799. For technical assistance
during the feeds, call Qwest Operations at 202/775-0894. For more information
about the Aids 20thanniversary campaign, please call Michael Cover at the Whitman-Walker
Clinic at 202/797-3590 or visit the website at http://www.20YearsofAids.org.
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