The INFO Project Blog

From guest blogger Vanessa Mitchell, a Program Specialist with the INFO Project, and a Program Officer with CCP/Côte d’Ivoire:

On July 17, 2008 in Abidjan, a mini-film called Porteuses de Vie, premiered in front of groups in the fight against HIV/AIDS, as well as the media. The 26 minute film on the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) was created by Alexis Don Zigre with support  from the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP).

Through this communication tool, JHU/CCP explores the issue of HIV positive women seeking to have children. The film is targeted primarily towards health centers and NGOs in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and is complemented by a user guide. The user guide covers five main areas that are targeted toward women, their partners, and their families: communication in a relationship, stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), the role of service providers, the role of PLWHA support groups, and PMTCT.

Through the film, JHU/CCP seeks to encourage pregnant women to use PMTCT services and their partners to receive HIV testing. Additionally, JHU/CCP explores the role of support groups for PLWHA, and ways for service providers to better greet and counsel women who visit a clinic for PMTCT services.

Porteuses de Vie is a story about a woman named Béa, about a couple, about the desire to have children, and of course about HIV. The film is both comical and dramatic, and has been praised for its ability to help people talk about the delicate subject of pregnancy among HIV positive women. It was recommended that the film be broadcasted on local television, and followed by a debate on PMTCT.