Advocacy Group To Launch Ad Campaign To Reduce Stigma Surrounding HIV/AIDS Among Asian Americans

The Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team on Monday released a report saying that it will launch nationwide public service announcements featuring Asian Americans talking about HIV/AIDS in an effort to curb the stigma surrounding the disease, Xinhua/People's Daily reports. According to APAIT's report, Asian Americans often stigmatize their HIV-positive peers (Xinhua/People's Daily, 5/16). The campaign, which the group is calling the Banyan Tree Project, will run 30-second PSAs highlighted by Asian Americans speaking in Cantonese, Vietnamese, Hindi and Tagalog about HIV/AIDS, the Orange County Register reports. APAIT Program Director Tim Young said the project aims to boost awareness of the epidemic and publicize culturally specific resources for Asian Americans. "Because of the many dialects and many separate Asian populations, it's a difficult group to reach," Doug Vogel, communications coordinator for AIDS Services Foundation Orange County, said, adding, "What makes it hard is not knowing the behavior pattern of that group. We don't know the culture, behavior [or] how they're getting the message." Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders made up about 1% of the 38,630 new HIV cases reported in the U.S. in 2004, according to CDC (Park, Orange County Register, 5/13).