SQUARE-HIV

May 29, 2005

Leading Bangladeshi business house joins NGO to campaign against spreading of HIV/AIDS<

By JULHAS ALAM=
Associated Press Writer=

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) _ A national campaign was launched Sunday to raise awareness on HIV and AIDS in this conservative, Muslim-majority country where many are reluctant to discuss the issue, campaigners said.

Bangladesh, a nation of 140 million people, has at least 13,000 HIV-infected people, according to estimates by the World Health Organization and the United Nations' anti-AIDS agency.

This country's official HIV/AIDS rate is still relatively low, at about 1 percent among sex workers. However, the rate among intravenous drug users is above 4 percent, according to Health Ministry figures.

Health experts warn that the deadly virus could spread rapidly among drug users because they often share dirty needles. Also, the country shares about 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) of porous border with India, which has about 5 million HIV/AIDS carriers.

Square Group _ a leading business group _ has joined the Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs for the yearlong campaign, which began Sunday in the capital Dhaka. It will involve musical concerts, erecting billboards, and airing programs on television about HIV and AIDS, team leader Nazrul Haque told The Associated Press by phone.

The slogan of the campaign is "Let's talk, know and prevent HIV/AIDS", he said.

Haque said the awareness campaign was designed so "the HIV/AIDS issue is discussed freely, based on correct understanding of what it is and how it impacts on people."

A rock music concert was planned for later Sunday for several thousand youths, Haque said, to spread the message that "nobody is safe". Several dozen HIV/AIDS carriers were expected to join the concert.

"We want to give an impression that they (HIV/AIDS carriers) are not finished," Haque said.

Separately, teams of folk singers roamed Dhaka's streets, a railway station and slums to spread awareness of HIV and AIDS, he said. About 500 posters with the awareness message have been posted in Dhaka, a city of 10 million people, he said.

Campaigners said will extend the campaign to other Bangladeshi cities.

"We want to reach every corner of the society," he said.

The government has already launched plans for next year to teach children in the country's 21,000 schools about HIV and AIDS, the government said.