AIDS Awareness Campaign - PR

 TOPICS  •

Introduction to PR and its Activities.

• PR Process – RACE: a.Research World Statistics. ii.Statistics - Singapore. iii.Statistics.- India. Action Plan & Communication i. Objectives. ii. Target Audience. iii. Strategy. iv. World AIDS Week. v. Timescale. i.

b.

vi.Budget. c.Evaluation • References INTRODUCTION TO PR AND ITS ACTIVITIES PR has and can be defined in many ways -

“Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and co-operation between an organisation and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues; helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion; defines and emphasises the responsibility of management to serve the public interest; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilise change, serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and ethical communication techniques as its principal tools.” (Harlow, quoted in Wilcox et al. 2003:7) The IPR is the UK's leading professional body for public relations practitioners and was established in 1948. The definition framed by the IPR in 1987 is still useful: “Public Relations is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and understanding between an organisation and its publics.” This definition was further refined by the IPR: “Public Relations practice is the discipline concerned with the reputation of organisations (or products, services or individuals) with the aim of earning understanding and support.” This is sometimes simplified further to: “Public relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.”

The key terms that explain the essence of PR are as follows: Deliberate – PR activities are always intentional. They are designed to influence, gain understanding, obtain information, and obtain feedback. Planned – PR activities are always done in advance. A systematic research and analysis takes place before deciding on any activity. Performance – Effective public relations is based on actual policies and performance. Public Interest – A PR activity should benefit the organization as well as its public. For example: Body Shop; environmentally friendly products.

Two-way Communication – Public relations not only consists of distributing information, but receiving feedback as well. Management Function – PR is a distinctive management function. One needs to have the “gift of gab”. It is mainly about decision making and solving problem solving and counselling at high levels. PR can be done through a variety of ways: through newsletters, conferences press releases, meetings, presentations and so forth PR activities are very important in todays day and age. No organization – whether public or private – can do without Public Relations. PR can make or break an organization. It is not limited just to the corporate world, but individuals as well. An organization needs to be very careful to keep its reputation from tarnishing, PR uses crisis management to solve issues that may cause bad publicity for an organization or an individual. PR can be used to create social awareness about an issue as well. Example – AIDS. The only way to reach out to a large number of the public is through PR activities – using different forms of the media as a tool. Everyone has an Image, but creating the right image and keeping it is what PR is all about The Public Relation activity consists of four key elements (RACE): R - Research A – Action Plan C - Communication E – Evaluation This is what will be the basis for the AIDS Awareness Campaign that we are planning to develop.

-: RESEARCH :WORLD STATISTICS Young people affected by HIV and AIDS Around half of the people who acquire HIV become infected before they turn 25 and typically die of AIDS before their 35th birthday. By the end of 2007, the epidemic had left behind 15 million AIDS orphans, defined as those aged under 18 who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. In 2007, around 370,000 children aged 14 or younger became infected with HIV. Over 90% of newly infected children are babies born to women with HIV, who acquire the virus during pregnancy, labour or delivery, or through their mother's breast milk. HIV/AIDS around the world The overwhelming majority of people with HIV, some 95% of the global total, live in the developing world. The proportion is set to grow even further as infection rates continue to rise in countries where poverty, poor health care systems and limited resources for prevention and care fuel the spread of the virus. The chart below shows the distribution of people living with HIV around the world, according to 2007 data.

-: Estimated number of people living with HIV – 2007 :Adults and children Country Global

Estimate 33 000 000

[low estimate – high estimate] [30 000 000 - 36 000 000]

Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia China Japan Oceania Australia New Zealand South and South-East Asia Afghanistan Bangladesh Indonesia Iran (Islamic Republic of) Malaysia Pakistan Philippines Sri Lanka Thailand Eastern Europe and Central Asia Western and Central Europe France Germany Greece Ireland Israel Italy Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland North Africa and Middle East Bahrain Egypt Iraq Kuwait Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Sudan United Arab Emirates North America Caribbean Latin America

22 000 000 740 000 700 000 9 600 74 000 18 000 1400 4 200 000 … 12 000 270 000 86 000 80 000 96 000 8300 3800 610 000

[20 500 000 - 23 600 000] [480 000 - 1 100 000] [450 000 - 1 000 000] [7900 - 10 000] [66 000 - 93 000] [11 000 - 36 000] [