Francis Openda
29 November 2003
Nairobi — First Lady Lucy Kibaki has challenged journalists to strive to promote the level of understanding of the HIV/Aids pandemic through fresh and innovative reporting.
Mrs Kibaki said this would go along way in eliminating the undesirable cultural beliefs and social attitudes which have continuously hindered efforts to curb the spread of the scourge in the country.
She was speaking last evening at a Nairobi hotel where she presided over the presentation of the 2003 Red Ribbon Media awards for excellence on HIV/Aids reporting.
The First Lady said cultural barriers and beliefs had made the disease a taboo and people living with it were frequently treated as outcasts in society.
She said journalists could help reduce the spread of the scourge and the suffering associated with it through the dissemination of the necessary knowledge to the
public.
Mrs Kibaki emphasised that any effort aimed at enlightening the people on the various aspects of the disease will go a long way in changing public perceptions.
She said apart from alleviating the emotional suffering that went with social stigma it will also curb the spread of the disease.
In a message read by the United Nations Environmental Program Executive Director,
Mr Klaus Topfer, UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan urged the World to step up the fight against HIV/Aids by enhancing the struggle against stigma and discrimination associated with the disease.
Annan said the fight against the scourge had reached a crucial stage where all available resources had to be used to ensure its success.
Speaking during the occasion, Tourism and Information Minister Raphael Tuju commended the Press for keeping information on epidemic in the public domain.
Mr Tuju, however, urged journalists to be more aggressive in their reporting on the scourge by conducting intensive research to produce factual articles and programs.
The minister particularly censured the gutter Press for its approach in reporting HIV/Aids saying most of the stories in their papers lacked facts and were based on sensation.
During the competition sponsored by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), Mr Josiah Onyango Odhiambo of the Daily Nation,
Kenya took the first position in Print media and online category, Gloria Katisine of Uganda was first in Television while Kenya's Ndu Okoh of Family FM was first in the
radio category.
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