Zambian journalists form association to fight AIDS
Kunda, A.
Aids Analysis Africa 5(3): 3
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 1016-8974 PMID: 12289038 Document Number: 290082
Zambia's Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) program has helped establish the Zambia AIDS Journalists Association (ZAJA) as part of a campaign to raise awareness about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS. The aims of the association include broadening coverage of the disease in local media and carrying out community awareness campaigns, workshops, and seminars. Carlos Matendeko, chairman of the organization, believes journalists can influence public opinion and awareness about AIDS. Workshops will be conducted in order to reorient journalists from event-related pieces to more analytical articles. The association is lobbying editors to adopt clear, meaningful policies on AIDS articles, which at present describe speeches, conferences, seminars, and statistics without explanation to the readers, according to the secretary of ZAJA, Mr. Larry Njungu. The World Health Organization has given ZAJA K4 million (US$50,000) to begin publication of a quarterly (initially) journal (AIDS Today), which will be devoted to AIDS and AIDS-related issues. Source material will be made available to journalists at the AIDS Media Resource Centre at the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (ZAMCOM). The Centre is managed by Ms. Given Daka and funded by the Morehouse School of Medicine in the United States.