MTV's Staying Alive web site provides young
people with a unique platform to exchange views
on life, love and relationships while also accessing
vital information on HIV prevention.MTV Networks International today (Thursday 29 November) announced the re-launch of http://www.staying-alive.org/, the online portal for the company’s Staying Alive campaign. With the site, Staying Alive—the world’s biggest youth focused HIV prevention campaign—provides young people with a unique platform to exchange views on life, love and relationships while also accessing vital information on HIV prevention.
Multi-platinum selling artists including Kanye West and Nelly Furtado are among a host of celebrities who share their personal stories and offer life-saving advice exclusively on MTV’S Staying Alive website. Nelly Furtado encourages women to carry their own condoms, as she reveals she was 26 when she bought her first pack of condoms.
Digital technologies, particularly the internet, are increasingly integrated into young people’s lives across the globe, transforming how they communicate with each other. These platforms are providing opportunities for young people to find critical life-saving information on HIV.
Some 33 million people are now connected to the internet in Africa - a continent where 22.5 million people, two-thirds of the world’s population living with HIV, live. Since 2001, internet use in South America has grown by over 374%, and by 832% across the Caribbean, both areas that are heavily affected by AIDS.
“The internet is one of the most effective ways of getting out education messages to young people. It’s a vital resource in the fight against the spread of HIV,” said Georgia Arnold, Head of Public Affairs for MTV Networks International. “Young people continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. Of the 5,800 adults infected every day 40% are young people aged 15-24 years old ”.
Much of its content for the Staying Alive web site will be generated by young people around the world through audio, video and still pictures. In one vlog, Natalia Cales, a native of South Carolina, USA, shares her experience of caring for a mother during her last months living with HIV, while in China, Yongshi Deng unveils the shocking levels of ignorance among youth who believe HIV is only in Africa or among gay men in the USA.
A host of artists appear on the website in support, including: Enrique Iglesias, Kelly Rowland, Macy Gray, Sum 41, James Blunt, Wayne Wonder, Good Charlotte and MIMS among others and will appear on MTV channels worldwide to promote staying-alive.org.
The site is available in English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian and Spanish.
MTV’s Staying Alive is a multimedia global HIV prevention campaign to challenge AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. The UNAIDS Secretariat and UNFPA have partnered with MTV, providing funding and technical assistance on key AIDS issues. UNICEF and the World Bank also provide support.
Links:
Visit the Staying Alive web site
