By Firdaus Ali
In response to rising HIV infection rates among gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP) is launching a novel media campaign. Entitled, “Wrap it Right”, the new prevention campaign encourages men to take care of themselves and their sexual partners.
The campaign rolls out early October in the form of print ad inserts splashed across several South Asian community newspapers; two television commercials aired during key South Asian programming on OMNI Television as well as video screenings on TTC subways.
“This campaign is all about community,” says Anita Balakrishna, Chair of ASAAP’s Board of Directors. “It challenges men to think about their sexual decision making in terms of how it affects not only themselves, but their families, the people they care about, and the communities they belong to,” she adds.
The two television commercials have been filmed by Indo-Canadian filmmaker Sunil Kalia, who says, “The campaign has been designed in keeping with the cultural mosaic of the South Asian community living in Toronto. The commercials are ethnic in content and laced with peppy music. Messages around safer sex and HIV prevention have been wrapped around familiar South Asian identities and one hopes the campaign will be well-received both within and outside the community.”
Among other things, the “Wrap it Right” campaign reflects the diversity among gay, bisexual and MSM and hopes to trigger off healthy discussions around sex and sexual diversity. It aims at getting South Asians thinking about how they perceive themselves and the gay community in general.
The campaign is part of ASAAP’s ongoing project “Cover the Right Things/Discover with a Cover: Healthy Sexuality Resources for South Asian Men who have sex with Men” and is funded by the AIDS Community Action Program (ACAP), a subsidy of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). |
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