BBC African Services addresses HIV/Aids

The BBC’s African Services join forces with broadcasters across BBC World Service to bring a special season of programmes on HIV/ Aids - now the fourth biggest killer in the world.

Kari Blackburn, Regional Executive Editor for Africa and the Middle East explains: "BBC World Service is in a unique position to offer a global as well as pan African perspective. HIV/ Aids is a global crisis – not just an African phenomenon - and through this special season listeners all over Africa and across the world will be able to get an insight into innovative ways of tackling the epidemic."

The BBC will broadcast its HIV/ Aids season from Sunday, 16 November in eight languages across Africa - English, French, Hausa, Somali, Swahili, Portuguese, Kinyarwanda and Kirundi. It will focus on every aspect of the story from the human, social, medical and religious implications to the economic affects and the diplomatic repercussions. The season runs up until World Aids Day on Monday, 1 December, and for some services up until the end of the year. In addition special coverage on all the BBC’s 43 language services on radio and online, can be followed on the special English language website www.bbcworldservice.com/aids

A highlight of the BBC African service’s output is an interview with leading HIV/ Aids campaigner Graca Machel, wife of Nelson Mandela. Its HIV/ Aids season also includes hard-hitting news stories, interactive debates, personal testimonies from people living and working with the virus, studio based panel discussions and interviews with a range of people from celebrities and politicians to health workers. There will also be special reports from reporters in Ghana, Nigeria and Nairobi who have travelled to Haiti, Thailand and Brazil to examine how these countries are dealing with the epidemic

The HIV/ Aids season also includes a special BBC World Service concert from the Mermaid Theatre in London, UK. It is hosted by the internationally renowned actor Sir Ian McKellen and the well known African broadcaster Ofeibea Quist-Arcton. The African artists included are Oliver Mtukudzi and the Black Spirits, from Zimbabwe, the Mali singer Rokia Traoré and the young poet and author Veronique Tadjo based in South Africa. The BBC is also broadcasting the Nelson Mandela Foundation concert, 46664, in Cape Town, South Africa. Performers include Anastacia, Baaba Maal, Beyonce, Bono, Johnny Clegg, The Corrs, Eurythmics, Angelique Kidjo, Ladysmith Black Mombaza, Youssou N’Dour, Moloko, Queen and Zucchero.

BBC African Productions in English has despatched four key correspondents across Africa to report and inform listeners throughout the HIV/Aids Season. Paul Bakibinga will be in Zambia and Botswana, Kwaku Sakyi Addo in Ghana, Nigeria and Haiti, Mannir Dan Ali in Thailand and Gray Phombeah in Brazil. Their special reports will be heard in the following programmes:

The interactive programme Africa Live! has a week-long special beginning Monday, 17 November. Africa Live! Goes Global is open to anyone who wants to take part, anywhere in the world. Presenters Vera Kwakofi and Solomon Mugera will anchor discussions from the BBC studios in London. The programmes will tackle a wide range of HIV/ Aids related issues from the sensitive subjects of intimacy and the safety of Africa’s young women, to myths and prevention. Listeners can take part by: telephone: +44 20 78 36 02 15; mobile telephone text message/ SMS: +44 7786 202008; fax number: +44 20 7379 5683; post: Africa Live, BBC, Bush House, London. WC2B 4PH; email: africa.live@bbc.co.uk or online via www.bbcworldservice.com/africalive

The flagship news programme Focus on Africa is also going global on World Aids Day, Monday, 1 December with forward-looking up-to-date information on HIV/Aids. The breakfast show Network Africa will carry special reports while African Perspective, the half hour weekend programme looking at stories behind the headlines, will include reports from people who are HIV positive in Uganda.

Paul Bakibinga also presents a special edition of Health Matters on Monday, 17 November, bringing reports from two countries said to be at the centre of the epidemic - India and Russia.

The BBC Hausa Service launches its HIV/ Aids season after Ramadan on Saturday, 29 November. Producer Aichatou Moussa will be reporting from Nigeria, Niger and Ghana and reporter Mannir Dan Ali will be bringing listeners a special report from Thailand on how it handles HIV/ Aids initiatives. On World Aids Day, Monday 1 December, the service has extended its regular programming to bring a special live debate and phone-in programme. The hour long programme, direct from Abuja in Nigeria, will include government officials, NGOs and experts in the field of HIV/AIDS. It will include reports from the cities of Abuja, Kaduna and Kano and from the Nigerian states Benue and Gombe. Listeners can take part by mobile telephone text message/ SMS: +44 7786202009 or by email: hausa@bbc.co.uk

The BBC Swahili Service has also sent a reporter into the field to establish the impact of HIV/ Aids. Producer Hafsa Mossi is travelling through three East African countries with The Road Show, starting from the Coastal City of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. She will broadcast reports from one town each day along the route including Tanga and Arusha in Tanzania; Nakuru, Kisumu and Busia in Kenya and Jinja in Uganda, culminating in Kampala on World Aids Day, Monday, 1 December. Other highlights for the season include a rap competition for leading Swahili speaking musicians and a report from producer Gray Phombeah, who travels to Brazil to explore their HIV/AIDS initiatives.

The BBC French for Africa Service launches its HIV/ Aids season with L’ Afrique en Directe, a special interactive programme presented by Marcel Amoko on Saturday, 15 November to broadcast at 11.05 GMT. The programme’s special guest is Dr Pierre Mpele, Head of UN Aids for West Africa who will be in the BBC studios in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Listeners can take part by: telephone: + 44 20 7557 1640; mobile telephone text / SMS: 00 44 7786 205088 or by email: lafriqueendirecte@bbc.co.uk

The BBC Somali Service will be broadcasting reports from Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Bosaso, Djibouti, Nairobi, Garisa, Addis and Jigjiga on how HIV/Aids is being tackled there. It not as big a challenge in Somalia at the moment as in other parts of Africa, however the potential for the spread of HIV is enormous as there are no public health institutions. Listeners will be able to put their views via the service’s special online site, www.bbcsomali.com or by email: somali@bbc.co.uk

The BBC Portuguese Service has secured an interview with Graca Machel, one of Africa’s greatest HIV/ Aids campaigners. Other highlights include interviews with Health Ministers from five Lusophone African Countries and special features from reporters in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Sao Tome and Principe.

The Great Lakes Service which broadcasts in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi will be dedicating their regular Ask the Doctor programme to questions on HIV/Aids. Other highlights include interviews with health ministers and reports from The Road Show organised by the Swahili Service. The Great Lakes Service presently produce a twice weekly soap opera that often deals with issues around HIV/Aids.

Last modified: November 14, 2003.
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