Suriname Rallies AIDS Drugs Support

Suriname held its first HIV/AIDS telethon in early June to raise money for antiretroviral drugs to treat low-income patients. The event, dubbed the "Television Billion," and an accompanying public awareness campaign raised more than $200,000 for a recently established emergency fund to finance the purchase of HIV/AIDS drugs.

Suriname obtains relatively inexpensive generic AIDS drugs from Brazil and India, but the cost of treatment—approximately $60 per month—is still too high for most Surinamese HIV/AIDS patients. To address the problem, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) last year helped establish a new Emergency Fund for Retroviral Therapy. The revolving fund received an initial contribution of $15,000 from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives and solicited private donations through an "adopt-a-patient" plan, in which donors could finance treatment for two children or one adult for one year with a $600 donation. Some 50 patients benefited from the fund during its first six months.

To ensure its sustainability, however, supporters believed they needed to find new ways of mobilizing resources for the fund. Members of a new fundraising committee decided to organize a mass-media campaign that would culminate in a highprofile telethon.

The campaign leading up to the telethon included television and radio spots, advertisements and press releases and was supported by a number of Surinamese celebrities, including First Lady Liesbeth Venetiaan-Vanenburg.

"The organizers faced a difficult task given the current economic climate and the stigma surrounding this subject," said Carol Vlassoff, until recently PAHO/WHO representative in Suriname and now head of PAHO's HIV/AIDS unit. "The outcome was much more than we ever could have hoped for."

During the live broadcast, which was filmed at Paramaribo's Hotel Krasnapolsky, individuals and representatives of Surinamese companies, organizations, schools, youth groups and others waited in long lines in the hotel lobby to offer their assistance. Donations were both large and small. Among those who gave were a 7-year-old boy who donated money he had raised by selling candy and an 80-year-old man who said he wanted to share part of his indigent allowance.

"For those of us who were involved, this campaign showed that fundraising within the community can be successful," said Vlassoff. "And perhaps even more important, it showed the willingness of the Surinamese people to care for people with HIV/AIDS."