This initiative drew on interpersonal interactions to research, and then build strategies to address, the capacity of the mass media (print, radio, and television) to provide information about HIV and AIDS. MEDIAIDS activities were designed to give journalists the knowledge, practical opportunities, and access to a network of experts to report on the situation in two different parts of the world: India and Western Europe. The practical training was structured to maximise opportunities for collaborative reporting by European-Indian teams through:

• Four joint journalism workshops of 2 weeks each, in India and Germany, were held. Two were oriented for television personnel; 2 were oriented for radio personnel. The workshops were developed with the vision of building a common platform for trends in technology and story-telling, new profiles for content, and areas for collaboration for producing joint pilot TV /radio spots on HIV/AIDS. A set of model radio/TV public service announcements was produced at the end of the workshops.
• Organisers commissioned and broadcast a series of 3 documentaries in India on the issue of HIV and AIDS in an attempt to impact policy, planning, and the lives of people affected by HIV / AIDS. In addition to a national telecast on the PSBT platform, these documentaries were also designed to be disseminated for international viewing (e.g., through film festivals).
• Four local seminars were held in Tamil Nadu on HIV/AIDS reporting - 2 of which focused on radio HIV coverage, and 2 of which explored advocacy and outreach training for local NGOs.
• Two follow-up conferences were held in India and Europe for alliance members and other stakeholders.

'Young Voices,' is one part of the MEDIAIDS programme that focused on young disc jockeys (DJ)s and presenters. Two workshops held to provide training to help build capacity to talk about HIV/AIDS in a way that would appeal to their young audiences. 'No Idea,' a music band from Tamil Nadu that won an award for their AIDS awareness song at the Great Indian Rock Festival, also participated. The workshops, which were held in Chennai at two campus community radio stations, included personal interaction with people living with HIV. The participants also visited a shelter for children orphaned by AIDS and a hospital providing HIV counseling, testing and treatment for people living with HIV. The training aimed to help the radio and TV jockeys clarify the myths and misperceptions about HIV that exist among young people as well as to talk comfortably about voluntary confidential counseling and HIV testing and safer behaviour. The participants produced nearly 2 dozen jingles on HIV issues within their week of training. Participants also developed their technical, writing, and presenting skills. By the end of the training, the band had composed a new song titled, 'A Better Life,' which speaks to young people about the importance of HIV testing and safer behaviours. Click here for more information, and to listen to a sample broadcast.

HIV/AIDS, Youth.

According to the project website, while the overall prevalence of HIV in India is below 1%, with its huge population size, the country faces an epidemic of large numbers. The spread of HIV in India has increased from an estimated 1.75 million adults in 1994 to over 5 million by 2005. There are indicators that the epidemic may have stabilised in the high-prevalence states. At the same time, surveillance data reveals new indicators of the epidemic. It is moving from urban areas to rural districts and towards women and young people. Over 250 million economically productive migrants move from one location to another. These mobile groups are considered high-risk carriers of the infection. It is believed such groups may turn the false sense of security in low-prevalence states into a tragic scenario. The metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai also face a major problem of injection drug use (IDU). This needs to be viewed in context of the alarming increase of HIV infection in Manipur - from around 60% to nearly 85% in just three years, largely linked to injecting drug use.