'Faces' launched in St Lucia with call-in radio programme

The ‘Nobody has the truth written on their face. Protect yourself. Use a condom” campaign, a.k.a the Faces campaign, has been launched in St Lucia with a call-in radio programme.

The weekly radio slot is part of an intensive three-month campaign officially launched October 30 at the Cultural Development Centre, Castries.

Present for the launch were representatives from the Ministry of Health, the National Aids Commission, UN Peace Corp, UNFPA, media houses and Red Cross staff and volunteers.

Also present were persons identified as the HIV Prevention Ambassadors - the reigning Carnival queen Sanyn James, Miss World St Lucia, Tamalisa Jn Baptiste; popular DJ/Radio personality Rohan St. Marthe and the reigning' Mr. Hotel and Tourism', Armin Flood. They were introduced to the audience and were later invited with others to sign their names across the large "Faces" posters on show.

Speaking at the launch were Kenneth Monplaisir, President of St. Lucia Red Cross (SLRC); Terencia Gaillard, SLRC Director General, Sonia Alexander, Director of the National AIDS Programme, and Marva Edward SLRC Youth Director.

Promotional items distributed to guests included tee shirts, pins, and tote bags filled with six posters.

At 3.00 p.m. that day, Bennet Charles hosted the first “Let’s Face it!” half hour radio programme for the campaign. It will be heard every Monday for the next three months.

Among those expected to guest on the programme are representatives from the Ministry of Health’s HIV/AIDS Department, a paediatrician whose specialty is HIV and Youth, and members of Tender Loving Care, the local Persons Living With HIV/AIDS group.

During the campaign, advertisements will also appear in the popular "You" magazine, which enjoys a large youth circulation.

 The Faces campaign, which began in Panama, was official launched in the Caribbean last December 1, World AIDS Day, in the Cayman Islands. The national societies of Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Dominica and Belize have since launched the eye-catching campaign, with a few more territories due to launch their respective campaigns on World Aids Day 2006.