Ukrainian Media Partnership Launches a New Campaign to promote Safer Sex Practices

A poster from the information campaign “Sex Has to Be Protected” urges youth to use safer sex practices to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. Kyiv - December 29, 2008. At the end of November the Ukrainian Media Partnership to Combat HIV/AIDS project, supported by USAID and implemented by IREX in collaboration with Transatlantic Partners against AIDS (TPPA), held a Press Club for Kyiv journalists called StopAIDS: Affects Everyone.  The event publicized collaborative efforts between government, business and non-governmental sectors in fighting the HIV/AIDS as well as presented a new awareness campaign on safer sex practices.  Alla Sherbynska, Director of the Ukrainian AIDS Center, Anna Zemskova, Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan, Luc Chenier, Marketing and PR Director of the MTV Ukraine TV-Channel, Kostynatyn Ryzhkov, Ukrainian Media Partnership Combat HIV/AIDS Manager, participated at the event.   Alla Sherbynska, Director of the Ukrainian AIDS Center, provided an overview of the trends and current situation with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine and globally, shared successes and shortcomings of the effective National HIV/AID program.   New cross-sector partnership established within UMP by Sanoma Magazines Ukraine and MTV Ukraine TV-Channel presented the information campaign - Sex Has to Be Protected.  The campaign aims to promote safe sexual practices for Ukrainian youth by involving well-known Ukrainian celebrities - a famous Ukrainian soccer player Vladislav Vaschuk, popular musicians - Valeriy Kharchyshyn, Andriy Khlyvnyuk and Dmytro Shurov, MTV anchors and representatives from the Sanoma Magazines Ukraine – as its endorsers. Collaboration between the Ukrainian Media Partnership to Combat HIV/AIDS with the Sanoma Magazines Ukraine, one of Ukraine’s largest media holdings that publishes Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Story, Prevention and Domashniy Ochag magazines, and MTV blossomed at the end of 2008.  The partners expanded their original idea to produce print PSAs (Public Service Advertising) on safer sex practices to include five TV PSAs.  UMP played a major role in facilitating and managing this critical project.  The Sanoma Magazines Ukraine provided funding to produce seven print and five video PSAs; MTV committed their technical expertise and resources to ensure the high quality of materials.  Coca-Cola Company supported production of metro lights posters, city lights and radio PSAs to complement this effort and the German Society for Technical Cooperation supported production of 40,000 leaflets that were distributed on December 1, the World AIDS Day, in major Ukrainian cities.

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