Published on September 20, 2006 at 2:40 AM
Jamaica has launched an advertising campaign that aims to curb HIV/AIDS-related stigma, the Caribbean Media Corporation reports.
The campaign, called "Getting on With Life," plans to include radio, television, newspaper and billboard messages that denounce discrimination related to the disease.
In addition, two HIV-positive Jamaicans will speak publicly about their experiences living with the virus, according to Peter Figueroa, chief of epidemiology and AIDS for Jamaica's Ministry of Health.
The campaign will be funded in part by grants from the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
More than 25,000 of the country's 2.7 million residents are estimated to be living with HIV, including about 15,000 who are not aware that they are HIV-positive, according to the Caribbean Media Corporation.
The National HIV/AIDS Control Program is providing antiretroviral treatment to about 2,000 HIV-positive people in Jamaica (Caribbean Media Corporation, 9/15).