HIV/AIDS in the Democratic Republic of Congo
According the most recent UNAIDS/WHO report on the global AIDS epidemic, almost two thirds (63%) of all persons infected with HIV in the world are living in sub-Saharan Africa: 24.7 million. An estimated 2.8 million adults and children became infected with HIV in 2006, more than in all other regions of the world combined. The 2.1 million AIDS deaths in sub-Saharan Africa represent 72% of global AIDS deaths.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2005, it’s estimated that as many as one million people — more than 100,000 of them children younger than 14 years — were living with HIV. Nearly 1 million children have been orphaned by AIDS in the D.R. Congo.
In many countries, high-risk behavior begins for most during adolescence. Many young people do not have the basic knowledge and skills to prevent themselves from becoming infected with HIV. Young people don’t have access to information, counselling, testing, condoms, harm-reduction strategies, or treatment and care for sexually transmitted infections.
Raising Awareness
Turning the tide of the HIV/AIDS epidemic means that people need information about how HIV is transmitted as well as information about the various ways to protect onself from infection. Getting people to change their behavior is harder.
Behavior affects the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Because there is an emotional component to behavior, the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa decided to reach out to the true masters of emotion in the Congo, its influential community of popular musicians. With support from the U.S. government’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief initiative, the Embassy took the novel approach of reaching Congolese youth using a comprehensive awareness campaign centered around music as the primary messaging medium.
The Embassy’s Public Affairs section asked the Kinshasa Music Club for help. Together, they approached several of Congo’s most well-known musicians and asked them to participate by contributing an original song to a compilation CD, with lyrics that communicate something about one or more of the four key components of HIV prevention: Abstinence, Fidelity, Condom usage and regular Testing.
In addition to recording individual pieces, the musicians came together in a historic show of unity to perform an ensemble song, as well as to record an accompanying music video. Association de Santé Familiale (ASF), a local NGO, produced the music video, as well as a documentary film showing the musicians rehearsing in the recording studio and in interviews during which they share their thoughts and personal stories about how HIV/AIDS has affected their lives, the lives of their people and their country.
Future plans to extend the campaign may include individual videos for each of the musicians, concert, a second CD and a series of short narrative pieces highlighting the importance of HIV awareness in daily life.
The Team
U.S. Government
Within the guidelines of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Emergency Plan the U.S. government supports local projects developed with extensive community involvement that are targeted at the specific needs of the host country, in this case the D.R. Congo, and developed in coordination with local non-governmental organizations and others. The Emergency Plan is the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease -- a five-year, $15 billion, multifaceted approach to combating the disease in 26 countries around the world. The United States now leads the world in its level of support for the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Music Club de Kinshasa
The Music Club de Kinshasa was formed in 2000 in order to provide a community for aspiring Congolese musicians, as well as to help promote musicial events of all types in Kinshasa. One of the Club’s most notable achievements has been the introduction of jazz to Kinshasa via a series of programs carried out with the Belgian Cultural Center.
PSI/ASF
Population Services International (PSI) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that harnesses the vitality of the private sector to address the health problems of low-income and vulnerable populations in more than 60 developing countries. With programs in malaria, reproductive health, child survival and HIV, PSI promotes products, services and healthy behavior that enable low-income and vulnerable people to lead healthier lives.
Association de Santé Familiale (ASF) is a Congolese NGO supported by PSI. With offices nationwide, PSI/ASF is the only NGO in the Congo undertaking activities in each of country’s eleven provinces.
source: UNAIDS/WHO 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic