World AIDS Website Launched

The National AIDS Trust, today (1 October 2007), announced the official launch of the World AIDS Day 2007 website, World AIDS Day. The website, developed in partnership with Edelman Interactive Solutions, uses innovative technology to allow visitors to interact with and provide content, including personal stories, for the website. The website aims to spark discussion about HIV in the build-up to the 20th World AIDS Day on 1 December.

Designed around this year’s World AIDS Day theme Understanding Through Communication and with the strapline HIV: Let’s Get Talking, the website highlights the importance of using open communication to break down the silence around HIV. The website is designed to get people talking and find out the facts about HIV in order to increase their own understanding and the knowledge of those around them.

The World AIDS Day website is one of the first in the UK to provide a hosted conversation tool powered by Newsgator. The Your Say section on the website will feature user-generated videos, blog content and news about HIV and AIDS. The site also features personal video clips of people talking about their experiences of living with HIV in the UK. Videos already submitted include London teenagers discussing the burden of keeping their HIV-positive status a secret and people speaking out about the discrimination they have faced at work or in the community by those uninformed about HIV. It is hoped as the build up to World AIDS Day continues more videos will be submitted for inclusion on the site through a dedicated YouTube channel.

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust commented:

“Last year the website attracted 6.5 million visitors in the five weeks surrounding World AIDS Day. The aim this year is to use new technology to encourage as many people as possible to get involved in World AIDS Day by interacting with and contributing to the website. We want to have a conversation about HIV with people across the UK.”

Jacqui White, Director of Edelman Interactive Solutions commented;

“We are proud to be working with the National AIDS Trust to promote World AIDS Day. This is the first time we have used a hosted conversation tool on a UK website. It works with the theme Understanding Through Communication by allowing visitors to join the debate and contribute their thoughts in blogs or videos.”

The National AIDS Trust is also harnessing social networking sites Facebook and MySpace to spread awareness the message of World AIDS Day. Last year the World AIDS Day MySpace profile attracted over 5,000 friends and over 40,000 profiles views. This year the National AIDS Trust is building on this success by developing a Facebook group The World AIDS Day website will also provide information about the events happening across the UK and how to get involved in the campaign. Anyone in the UK can submit their event details, order free fundraising resources or buy World AIDS Day merchandise at World AIDS Day.

Contact Katherine Sladden on 020 7814 6733 or 07806 622 550

Notes to the Editor

World AIDS Day

Twenty years ago, a summit of health ministers realised that a united global effort was required to halt the spread of HIV and AIDS. As a result, World AIDS Day emerged as the first international health day in December 1988. Now in its 20th year World AIDS Day aims to bring to people's attention the worldwide challenges and consequences of the epidemic- ultimately, preventing the spread of HIV and improving the lives of people living with the virus.

In the UK, the theme of World AIDS Day 2007 is Understanding Through Communication. The theme ties in with this year's international theme for World AIDS Day: Leadership, as it inspires us all to take the lead in breaking down the ignorance and fear around HIV through communication. There are now 40 million people living with HIV worldwide and more than 70,000 people living with HIV in the UK.

National AIDS Trust

The National AIDS Trust (NAT) is the UK's leading independent policy and campaigning voice on HIV and AIDS. It aims to prevent the spread of HIV, encourage early diagnosis, ensure people living with HIV have access to treatment and care, and eradicate HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

The National AIDS Trust is grateful for the support of CfBT Education Trust in the development of the World AIDS Day website.

Edelman Interactive Solutions

EIS is Edelman’s dedicated team of digital communications experts. Drawing on Edelman’s solid PR heritage, EIS’s love of digital and social media is grounded in solid public relations principles - and that’s what differentiates us from other agencies with digital offerings. That and the fact that we have 120 specialist consultants ready to support our campaigns meaning we have a legitimate claim to being experts in using the internet for internal communications, political lobbying, consumer education and corporate reputation management.

Within the current climate of consumer-generated content and the headlong rush into the Conversation Economy, EIS also offers auditing and analysis of online conversations, counselling clients on the changing rules of engagement and rolling out blogger outreach programmes. EIS has worked with everyone from NGOs and media organisations to consumer goods companies and large corporates on how to move from a top-down information flow to a model based on networked communication.