APICHA RUNNING HIV TESTING PSA ON CHINESE LANGUAGE TV

Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV and AIDS (APICHA) is kicking off a Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign on SinoVision, Chinese language television. The goal is to get Chinese speaking viewers to think about HIV/AIDS, warn them about risky activities, and to tell them where they can get a free and confidential HIV test.

APICHA's mission is to serve the HIV/AIDS health needs of the Asian and Pacific Islander (A & PI) community. There is an information gap in providing health information to Asians who speak limited or no English. There is also stigma and cultural barriers regarding AIDS, sex, homosexuality, condom use, and drug use. To serve this population, APICHA's staff is ethnically diverse, knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, multi-lingual, and culturally sensitive to the needs of A & PI's. We are optimistic that using the niche of Chinese language television to reach the Chinese audience will be successful. If these PSA's are successful in getting the Chinese community to think about AIDS and to come to APICHA for an HIV test, the project will continue in other languages and on other T.V. stations that attract Asian and Pacific Islander audiences.

The PSA asks viewers:

• Are you having sex without a condom?
• Are you having sex with a partner whose HIV status is unknown to you?
• Are you having sex with multiple partners?
• Are you an intravenous drug user and sharing needles or other drug paraphernalia?

Viewers are advised that if they answered 'yes' to any of these questions, they should call APICHA for a free and confidential HIV test.

APICHA's Info-line is 1-866-APICHA-9 or 1-866-274-2429. Our address is 150 Lafayette Street, 6th Floor, between Howard and Grand Streets (1 block north of Canal Street), in Lower Manhattan.

The announcer ends the PSA by saying, "At APICHA we have the experience and we speak your language."