Dorah Nesoba
12 April 2003
Nairobi — It will now be mandatory for broadcasting stations to set aside a percentage of their airtime for free advertisements to create public awareness on Aids.
Tourism and Information Minister Raphael Tuju said the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and all other broadcasters will be expected to do so for the good of the nation.
He said by airing the free programmes and advertisements, the media, which has a wider reach, will create more impact and subsequent behaviour change.
Tuju was speaking at a Nairobi hotel during a Kenya Aids NGOs Consortium (Kanco) consultative forum on Thursday evening.
"Not only does it apply to KBC but to other broadcasting stations, including those that have applied for licences," said Tuju.
He said the airtime will be dedicated to programmes and advertisements, especially those aimed at creating awareness and behaviour change in the war against the HIV/Aids scourge.
He said the Kenyan media had the most chaotic regulatory environment in the world but his ministry is currently addressing the anomalies.
The Minister, however, said organisations willing to disseminate their HIV/Aids messages in the slated percentage must channel them through a focal point.
"There are too many players and if all are allowed to utilise the free airtime, broadcasting organisations will incur great losses," he advised.
Tuju said although 90-95 per cent of Kenyans were aware of the disease and its effects, behaviour change is a continuos process and change cannot be expected overnight.
Present were officials of the National Aids Control Council and member organisations of Kanco.
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