'Groundbreaking' campaign discusses HIV/AIDS in Hispanic community

The Kaiser Family Foundation and Univision Launch First National Spanish-Language Media Campaign Featuring HIV-Positive Latinos and Loved Ones

PR Newswire via NewsEdge :

Groundbreaking Ads Confront Stigma and Debunk Myths in Response to Latino AIDS Crisis

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Kaiser Family Foundation and Univision Communications Inc, the nation's leading Spanish-language media company today unveiled "SOY..." ("I AM..."), a groundbreaking Spanish-language media campaign featuring the personal stories of a diverse group of Latinos living with HIV and the people who love them. The campaign was previewed today for approximately 3,000 members of the HIV/AIDS community during the opening plenary session of the 2008 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. SOY... will debut nationally on Univision network and radio in conjunction with National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) on October 15th and continue throughout 2009.

For the first time in a national media campaign, SOY... profiles HIV-positive Latinos and their loved ones speaking openly about subjects not commonly discussed in Hispanic households. Campaign participants range in age from two teenage sisters (one positive, one negative) from Los Angeles to a 77-year-old grandmother in Puerto Rico and her daughter in Miami who has been living with HIV for more than ten years.

Developed by Univision and the Kaiser Family Foundation, SOY... includes 12 original public service ads (PSAs) each in television and radio formats and Spanish-language HIV/AIDS information and resources available online through a dedicated website (http://www.univision.com Uniclave: SIDA) and via a toll-free Spanish-language hotline (1-866-TU-SALUD). The campaign was developed as part of Enterate del VIH y SIDA! (Get the Facts about HIV and AIDS!), a long-standing public information partnership established in 2001 between Univision and the Kaiser Family Foundation to provide culturally relevant Spanish-language information and resources about HIV/AIDS.

"Univision has enjoyed a long-standing partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation, building on Univision's legacy of informing and empowering our audience," said Ivelisse Estrada, senior vice president, Corporate and Community Relations for Univision Communications. "SOY... encourages families to openly discuss the topic of HIV/AIDS."

"Despite its significant impact on the Latino community, AIDS is not discussed in many households," said Tina Hoff, vice president and director of Entertainment Media Partnerships at the Kaiser Family Foundation. "By helping to personalize HIV/AIDS through the individuals who opened their lives for this campaign, SOY... seeks to break down the stigma that allows this disease to spread."

Emmy-winning Univision journalist, Teresa Rodriguez, previewed SOY... today at USCA during a special plenary session examining the AIDS crisis facing U.S. Latinos. As part of the session, SOY... participants "Dee" and "Milagros" were joined by Dr. Carmen Zorrilla, an HIV-specialist OB-GYN at the University Hospital in Puerto Rico, and Guillermo Chacon of the Latino Commission on AIDS for an intimate discussion of the importance of speaking openly about HIV with family and loved ones, in schools, at churches and throughout the Latino community.

SOY... is an official media component of NLAAD. Univision and Kaiser are working with the Latino Commission on AIDS and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) to distribute HIV/AIDS information resources and SOY... programming materials to community organizations, state and local health departments and local clinics across the country.

About HIV/AIDS and U.S. Latinos

Of the approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, about 200,000 are Latino. Latinos have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, accounting for 19 percent of AIDS cases diagnosed in 2006 while comprising only 15 percent of the U.S. population. Latinos are testing positive for HIV, being diagnosed with AIDS and dying from the disease at higher rates than whites in the United States. As the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group in the United States, addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community takes on increased importance in efforts to improve the nation's health.

About Univision Communications

Univision Communications Inc. is the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. Its operations include Univision Network, the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching 97% of U.S. Hispanic Households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network, which was launched in 2002 and now reaches 85% of U.S. Hispanic Households; Galavision, the country's leading Spanish-language cable network; Univision Television Group, which owns and operates 63 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group which owns and/or operates 70 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and 5 stations in Puerto Rico; and Univision Online, the premier Spanish-language Internet destination in the U.S. located at http://www.univision.com. Univision Communications also has a 50% interest in TuTv, a joint venture formed to broadcast Televisa's pay television channels in the U.S. Univision Communications has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States.

About the Kaiser Family Foundation

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit private operating foundation, based in Menlo Park, California, dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible information, research and analysis on health issues for policymakers, the media, the health care community and the general public. Information on the Foundation's HIV/AIDS policy work, journalism training programs and media partnerships to educate the public about HIV is available at http://www.kff.org; daily news summary reports, webcasts and other online content on developments in HIV/AIDS are available on http://www.kaisernetwork.org; country-level facts and data are available at http://www.GlobalHealthFacts.org; and resources for reporters covering HIV/AIDS are available at http://www.GlobalHealthReporting.org.

SOURCE Henry J. Kaiser Foundation