16 November 2009
Maputo — A multimedia mobile unit is now on the road in the northern Mozambican province of Niassa with the task of making communities aware of AIDS and how to prevent the disease,
According to a press release from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the vehicle was provided by the Niassa Cotton Company (SAN), which is part of the Portuguese Joao Ferreira dos Santos (JFS) group.
It is equipped with a computerised video and sound amplification system that was provided by the Association of Business People against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (ECOSIDA), and by the National Aids Council (CNCS).
The crew of the mobile unit hopes to promote healthy attitudes, by involving communities in interactive debates, and providing pertinent information on HIV/AIDS and more general issues of health, education and child protection.
ECOSIDA has trained a group of local activists to operate the equipment and to act as peer educators among the communities.
"The use of mobile multimedia units in several other parts of the country has proved a powerful and efficient means of reaching remote communities, with low levels of schooling, and of access to audio-visual means of communication", said the release. "It helps them acquire more knowledge, promote dialogue and seek solutions for their own development". This form of fighting AIDS results from a "public-private partnership" established in June between SAN/JFS, ECOSIDA, the CNCS and UNICEF, and falls within a UNICEF strategy for the increasing involvement of private business in programmes to benefit women and children.
The project seeks to use the existing SAN/JFS network in the rural communities, through which about 100,000 peasant producers sell their raw cotton to SAN.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
