The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will stage the European launch of its global anti-stigma campaign called ‘Come closer...’ to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, Ukraine, this week. European Red Cross Societies have asked performers at the Eurovision competition to support the campaign in the hope that this multi-cultural event will lead to greater support and solidarity for those living with HIV/AIDS in Europe.
In a pan-European show of solidarity, a number of performers, journalists and back-up staff from the 39 participating countries have already agreed to wear T-shirts emblazoned with anti-stigma messages during the Festival week.
The gesture is timely, as stigma and intolerance threatens to increase Ukraine's already high AIDS burden. Up to 400,000 people are thought to be HIV-positive in the country – some 1.6 per cent of the adult population. The rate of increase for HIV infections in Ukraine is one of the highest in the world. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the “most serious and firmly-established epidemic” of HIV for the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia is in Ukraine, “which is experiencing a new surge of reported infections”.
The “Come closer” campaign seeks to address the continuing marginalisation of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS with messages such as ‘Talk to me! You cannot get HIV by talking’ and ‘Shake my hand! You cannot get HIV by shaking hands!’
The Irish Red Cross was the first to get behind the campaign, with Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Latvia following suit. Ukraine's national TV company, the organisers of the event, supported the idea from the start, and have placed the campaign logo on their website: www.eurovision.ua/en, with a link to the Ukrainian Red Cross site.
Red Cross volunteers will be out in force on the streets of Kiev, joining an inter-agency safe-sex campaign led by the United Nations. They will also have a mobile diagnostic laboratory right by the Eurovision venue which is used to check for thyroid cancers caused by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
"As Europe and Ukraine come closer in geopolitical terms, it's heartening to see the Red Cross and television broadcasters coming closer together to fight stigma," said Felicita Hikuam, Senior Officer for the International Federation's Anti-Stigma Campaign. "Europeans have to face common threats together, to stand in solidarity with people living with HIV/AIDS and all marginalised groups," she added.
Brother and sister team "Donna and Joe" will perform the Irish entry called "Love?", and they see the sentiment as more than appropriate. "I think this campaign is brilliant," said 17-year-old Joe McCaul. "I've a friend back home with AIDS - we need to show that you can't get AIDS by shaking hands and being friends." Today more than 120 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are actively campaigning against stigma and discrimination, as part of their work to promote humanitarian values and protect human dignity.