UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Chapter 7183At a youth forum onHIV/AIDS, held atSouth Africa’s Universityof Witwatersrand, Billand Melinda Gates,whose foundation hasmade major contributionsto combating AIDS,listen to former SouthAfrican President NelsonMandela.Getty Images/AFP/Alexander JoeIf we harness our immense communications power, with all the creativity and innovation at ourdisposal, the impact will be felt far and wide”. Since 2007, Dali Mpofu, the Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, has been the new Chair of the GMAI.Raising levelsof awareness andeducating peopleabout preventionof HIV infectionwas as essentialin 2004 as in anyother year of theepidemic’s life.Partnership is key to the GMAI – an unprecedented initiative for an industry that normallythrives on competition. In 2004, Gazprom-Media began working with Transatlantic Partnersagainst AIDS, a Moscow-based nongovernmental organization, and the Kaiser FamilyFoundation to establish the Russian Media Partnership to Combat HIV/AIDS. This coalitionnow includes more than 50 leading media and consumer goods companies. Another partnershipthat has grown out of the GMAI is the African Broadcasting Media Partnership onHIV/AIDS. Recently, this African partnership committed its members to dedicating 5% of allairtime to HIV-related programming and messages.By the end of 2005, more than 130 companies from 69 countries had become involvedwith the GMAI, with the result that numerous new campaigns were launched and existingprogrammes expanded.Raising levels of awareness and educating people about prevention of HIV infection wasas essential in 2004 as in any other year of the epidemic’s life. Despite some progress inlowering prevalence rates and increasing numbers of people on antiretroviral treatment, HIVhad taken a firm hold in many countries and was growing in others.The challenge of the new funding: ‘too many cooks’At global and country level, there was a particular sense of urgency about using the newfinancial resources effectively. If the available funding failed to produce sound results inscaling up prevention and treatment, it would not be easy to convince donors of the needto continue investing.