From On Air - Spring 2004
Entertainment Summit
International Entertainment Community Joins Public Health
Experts to Showcase the Power of the Media in Fight Against
HIV/AIDS
Actors, writers and producers
of dramatic TV series broadcast around the world were joined
by international business, media and public health leaders
in New York on November 18, 2003 to set the stage for using
the power of the media in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
In partnership with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health,
Population Communications International (PCI) co-hosted an unprecedented event
to examine the use of entertainment programs that affect critical behavioral
changes among populations at the greatest risk for HIV/AIDS.
“This is a remarkable global gathering of experts from a broad range of
disciplines,” said Allan Rosenfield, M.D., the Dean of
Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “We are delighted
to have the opportunity to create powerful new partnerships between the public
health and entertainment communities in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.”
The keynote address was delivered by Stephen Lewis, United
Nations Special Envoy on HIV/ AIDS in Africa. Ambassador
Lewis, whose role takes him to the epicenter
of the AIDS pandemic, has characterized it as “mass murder by complacency.” “The
time for polite, even agitated entreaties is over,” commented Ambassador
Lewis. “This pandemic cannot be allowed to continue, and those who watch
it unfold with a kind of pathological equanimity must be held to account.”
Among the other speakers were Ambassador Richard Holbrooke,
President of the Global Business Coalition for HIV/ AIDS,
who examined the role of the international
business community in the fight against HIV/ AIDS in a luncheon address. Under
Ambassador Holbrooke’s leadership, the Coalition has been the catalyst
for hundreds of businesses worldwide to get involved in education efforts to
stop the scourge of AIDS.
A panel of writers, producers and performers from China,
India, Kenya, Mexico, and South Africa screened excerpts
from dramatic series in their countries and
shared stories about how these entertainment programs have impacted their communities’ attitudes
about HIV/AIDS and helped curtail high-risk behavior.
Among the many others who participated in the Entertainment
Summit were representatives from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Coca-Cola Africa, Cable
Positive, Viacom, and several other leading authorities on HIV/AIDS education
and communication.
The day-long event resulted in new partnerships for utilizing
entertainment in the struggle against HIV/AIDS worldwide.
“The fight against HIV/AIDS is in part a battle against bigotry, fear,
denial and ignorance,” said
Irwin (Sonny) Fox, Senior Vice President, PCI. “Entertainment programming
is already a powerful vehicle for delivering crucial messages about HIV/AIDS
and has the potential to do so much more when preeminent leaders in the fields
of entertainment, business and public health pool their resources.”
The November 18 Entertainment Summit was held at Lerner Hall
on the Columbia University campus in association with The
Advertising Council, BBC World Service
Trust, Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (CONGO), International Academy
of Television Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication
Programs, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, United Nations Foundation and United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Principal support was provided by the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation.
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