NOLLYWOOD MOVES TO FIGHT HIV

The entertainment industry is set to spearhead the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) in collaboration with the National Agency for Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA) organised a Nollywood interactive programme, in a move to campaign against the disease via the movies.

According to the Director–General of NFVCB, Mr. Emeka Mba, the movie industry is a channel for communications; and exchange of ideas and movies help through dramatisation and emotive appeals to open discussions about subjects that are often considered 'too difficult”.

“It acts as a vehicle for creating a supportive and enabling environment. Films help to break the silence that often accompanies a disease such as HIV/AIDS, and it creates awareness and education through entertainment of the role of lifestyle choices in preventing HIV and other services,” Mba said.

The DG of NACA, Prof Babatunde Oshotimeyin, said the only way to overcome the issue of HIV is through communication.

“HIV is a disaster and we need to do something about it. The best strategy for it is through information, and the most effective is the movie. If people watch the kind of movies that deal with HIV/AIDS, they would change their lifestyles.”

Oshotimeyin encouraged those in the movie industry to take the fight against the disease as a challenge.