Concord Times (Freetown)
Ibrahim Tarawallie
2 December 2008
In commemorating this year's world AIDS day, HIV/AIDS media corps Sierra Leone has held a one-day HIV/AIDS advocacy forum in Freetown to find ways to hush the spread of the disease in the country.
HMC's president Richard Bockarie told his audience at the Bayconfields complex that the trend in the spread of the disease has taken a steady ride, noting that the prevalence as at now remains the same as in 2005.
He said the fight against HIV/AIDS could graciously be tagged as public interest matter with multifaceted implications bordering on public health.
HMC's coordinator Rachel Horner said the premier objective of the organization was the fight against HIV/AIDS through media advocacy and sensitization of the public.
She said they are in the process of producing a handbook called 'media guide book on HIV/AIDS', which she said would be a guiding tool and principle in HIV/AIDS reportage.
"The handbook has been submitted to the national HIV/AIDS secretariat for review and further contributions," she said.
Horner said the organization hopes to embark on a monthly publication of the first exclusive news journal on HIV/AIDS called 'Aids update'.
"NAS zero prevalence survey indicates that the educated segments of our society are the least among those that do not believe in the existence of HIV/AIDS. This of course is upsetting news," she said.
Chairman of the forum, Mohamed Massaquoi said world aids celebration was important because it deals with human life, adding that it was incumbent on everyone to fight against the dreadful disease.
"The campaign against the widespread of the disease must go down to the grassroots," he urged.
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