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Southern Africa: SADC Artists Against HIV, Aids Established
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 Published by the government of Zimbabwe |
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The Herald (Harare)
9 January 2008
Posted to the web 9 January 2008
Wonder Guchu
Harare
Following the inaugural Sadc Artists Aids Festival held in Harare last December, a forum that would address HIV and Aids issues affecting artists - the Sadc Artists Against HIV and Aids - has been established.
The birth of SAAAF is the culmination of an HIV declaration made by artists from Lesotho, Swaziland Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe who attended a workshop that preceded the festival in November last year.
The forum, that is split into regional and national chapters, will undertake research on HIV and Aids and provide statistics and data on artists living with the disease. It will also network with other HIV and Aids service organisations in the region and individual regional member states as well as provide services and support to artists in general and in particular to artists living with Aids.
For funding, the forum will approach Sadc national governments, the international community and individuals to assist artists in dealing with the pandemic and to enable the steering committee to achieve its objectives. One of the forum's tasks is to encourage all artists to go for voluntary counselling and testing and ensure that those who do so receive the necessary support and adequate information on Voluntary Counselling and Testing.
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"Artists have not been able to get help from existing organisations that deal with HIV and Aids. As a result, many artists have died in silence and isolation with no support from fellow artists, arts organisations and HIV and Aids organisations," said Stephen Chifunyise, who is the SAAAF contact person.
Chifunyise, who is also an artist in his own right and arts consultant, said national committees in countries such as Zambia and Zimbabwe had already started working on the programme.
The committees will pass on information to the regional interim committee, which is currently headed by Virginia Phiri from Zimbabwe.
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