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To reach Hispanics with an HIV prevention message, Mississippi activists are turning to texting and other forms of electronic media during an upcoming 12-week campaign.At the heart of the "Espera y Piensa" ("Stop and Think") project by the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance (MIRA) are 500 text messages sent out weekly directing Hispanics to online information and testing resources.
"Cell phones are the main form of communication for immigrants here. We'll be encouraging them, if they think they have an STD, to go to the health department and contact us so we can secure services," said MIRA Executive Director Bill Chandler.
Hispanics constitute about 15 percent of the US population but an estimated 17 percent of new HIV infections each year, according to CDC. The MIRA campaign targets adults ages 18 to 35.
"There's never really been an effort to make [HIV] a part of a discussion that immigrants are having," Chandler said.
The MIRA website and its Facebook page will feature resources such as bilingual podcasts and videos. The effort also will include four radio ads.
The reliance on electronic media generated some reservations from at least one community leader.
"You're sending them to a website, for God's sake," said the Rev. Ken Ramon-Landry, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hattiesburg. "They don't have computers."
An area publisher who said he will run ads about the campaign in his newspaper noted that Hispanics tend to avoid medical services.
"For any kind of illness, they prefer to just deal with that or maybe get homemade solutions," said Luis Espinoza, publisher of La Noticia, a Spanish-language newspaper based in the Jackson area. "It's not because the Latinos don't care about this problem. They lack the information," he said.
The program is funded by a $9,000 grant from the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office of HIV/AIDS Policy. For more information, visit www.yourmira.org.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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