Call for participants : EU - Indian TV training on HIV/AIDS

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Call for participants : EU - Indian TV training on HIV/AIDS

Formedia: In India: F 4 Jangpura Extn., New Delhi 110014 Tel: (91

11) 2432 1400

In Europe : 14 cité Griset, 75011 Paris Tel : (33) 1 53 36 06 06

mediaids@...

(August 1, 2005) Internews' MEDIAIDS project will hold two EU -

Indian TV 2-week workshops with 6 European and 6 Indian participants

and with one session in India and one session in Germany. The

workshops will build a common platform for trends in technology and

story-telling, new profiles for content, areas for collaborations to

produce joint pilot TV /radio spots on HIV/AIDS. A set of model

radio/TV public service announcements will be produced by the end of

the workshops.

Workshop 1: September 16 to October 3, 2005, New Delhi, India

Workshop 2: November 19 to December 3, 2005, Berlin, Germany

BACKGROUNDER FOR CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS, & CALL FOR DOCUMENTARIES

HIV / AIDS AND THE MEDIA

People living with HIV/AIDS often say that headlines and stories

about AIDS in the media are scary and sensational. Studies also show

that language and approach in the media have contributed to further

stereotyping and stigmatization of already marginalized groups.

These are the feelings at the core of the aims and objectives of the

EU-India ECCP " MEDIAIDS " project entitled: " Ethics and Stereotypes:

Towards an European – India Media Response to HIV / AIDS " .

The basic question is: How can the medium of television be utilized

to address, inform and educate audiences about HIV / AIDS without

alarming or scaring them?

None of the issues related to HIV / AIDS can be neglected, bypassed

or avoided. Whether it is:

• sexual transmission

• drug use

• isolation

• rejection by the family

• loss of job

• divorce

• humiliation within the health care system

• denial of admission to school

• secrecy and ignorance leading to death

These issues are the context in which the EU-India ECCP project has

been formulated.

HIV SCENARIO IN INDIA

While the overall prevalence of HIV in India is below 1%, with its

huge population size, the country faces an epidemic of large

numbers. The spread of HIV in India has increased from an estimated

1.75 million adults in 1994 to over 5 million by 2005. Nearly 80% of

these cases are in the six states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Manipur and Nagaland.

There are indicators that the epidemic may have stabilized in the

high-prevalence states. This is based on data that HIV occurrence

among pregnant women remained constant for three years until 2004.

At the same time, surveillance data reveals new indicators of the

epidemic. It is moving from urban areas to rural districts and

towards women and young people.

Migration among the economically productive sections of society is

common. Over 250 million Indians move from one location to another.

India also has a large number of truck-drivers and their helpers,

ranging from estimates of two to five million people. These mobile

groups, who traverse across one of the largest road networks in the

world, are considered high-risk carriers of HIV / AIDS infection.

The alarming increase of HIV infection in Manipur City from around

60% to nearly 85% in just three years is largely linked to injecting

drug use. The metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and

Chennai also face a major problem of injecting drug use.

The situations and behaviour patterns in such groups increases the

vulnerability and risk of HIV / AIDS. Until now, AIDS remains an

incurable disease, although medical advances have enabled it to be a

manageable chronic illness. All those who are infected or are

potentially at risk of infection, face this harsh reality.

Ofcourse, today, if a person is well cared for, HIV / AIDS patients

can live with a fair quality of life for a number of years and even

work. Equally, a person may live for years after infection without

any symptoms or sickness, while they unknowingly transmit the

infection to others.

In this context, we cannot forget that the maximum infections are in

the continents of Africa and Asia, and in groups that have limited

or no access to dependable health care systems.

THE PROJECT

In the first year of the two-year EU-India ECCP project, " MEDIAIDS "

will:

1. Work with 12 participants chosen through this open call. Six

participants will be from India and six from Europe. Together with

experts, the participants will develop prototypes of PSA, news story

and news feature formats that are suitable for regional and

international telecast. A total of six media products are to be

completed by the end of the second and final two-week workshop.

2. Invite proposals for three 26-minute documentaries in

collaboration with the Public Service Broadcasting trust (PSBT).

Apart from a national telecast in India, these documentaries are

also targeted for international viewing, distribution and film

festivals. The documentaries will be mentored by commissioning

editors, senior documentary film-makers and HIV experts. The aim is

to incorporate an India perspective to HIV / AIDS in films that can

compete for credibility, technique and story-telling at the

international level. The three films should work as stand-alone

documentaries as well a trilogy. For this reason, the final choice

of proposals will specifically be looking at non-repetitiveness in

content.

For more information:

MEDIAIDS website : http://www.formonline.org/mediaids/

http://www.internews.fr/news/050801_Inda_TV_Training.php

Alix Françoise dit Bernard

Programme Manager

E-mail: <afrancoise@...>