CBMP and Scotiabank host HIV Regional Testing Day

June 26, 2013 - Scotiabank, through its Bright Future Program, and in partnership with the Caribbean Broadcasting Media Partnership (CBMP) on HIV/AIDS will on Friday June 28, host the sixth annual HIV Regional Testing Day at eight branches across Jamaica. All persons who would like to be tested are invited to visit any of the testing sites where trained personnel from the Ministry of Health will conduct confidential screenings and provide appropriate counselling.

"Scotiabank is committed to contributing to the health of our communities and by making our branches available to host clinics for HIV Regional Testing Day, we are expanding access to testing for persons who wish to do so. Scotiabank has supported various initiatives and see it as our responsibility to help build capacity of front line agencies in building awareness about prevention of HIV/AIDs," said Monique Todd, Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Affairs. "

Scotiabank's support of this program is part of the Bank's Global HIV Strategy which focuses on promoting awareness and education and fighting stigma and discrimination. 

"I congratulate Scotiabank for their committed involvement in this important HIV prevention initiative now in its 6th year," said Dr. Allyson Leacock, Executive Director, Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership. "Our unique collaboration creates a powerful response to fighting the spread of HIV and raising awareness on the importance of preventing the disease in our region. We would also like to thank the ministries and departments of health who provide valuable support to facilitate testing and counselling."

Clinics will be held at the following Scotiabank branches across Jamaica:

A list of additional locations can be found online at www.iliveup.com.

  1. King Street (In front of the Branch
  2. Port Antonio (close to the clock).
  3. Mandeville (Parking Lot)
  4. Spanish Town (Oasis Shopping Centre).
  5. St. Ann's Bay Branch
  6. Hagley Park Road (Parking Lot)
  7. Montego Bay Civic Centre
  8. Bay City Supermarket

About HIV Regional Testing Day

In 2008, the CBMP and Scotiabank in collaboration with regional health ministries piloted the first HIV Regional Testing day in Barbados and since then it has expanded across the Caribbean.

  • This year, CBMP expects that approximately 10,000 people from across the region will be tested.
  • This year, Trinidad and Tobago will introduce HIV Regional Testing Day which brings the number of countries participating to 21, the program's largest international reach to date.
  • In 2012, Scotiabank supported HIV Regional Testing Day inJamaica by hosting 8 clinics and tested almost 1400 citizens.
  • In 2012, Scotiabank supported HIV Regional Testing Day in 20 countries in the Caribbean with more than 13,000 participants.
  • Belize introduced the program to their communities in 2012 and more than 500 participants were tested in its first year.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work, both in Canada and abroad, through our global philanthropic program, 'Bright Future'. Recognized as a leader internationally and among Canadian corporations for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, Scotiabank has provided on average approximately $47 million annually to community causes around the world over each of the last five years. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com.

About the CBMP

The Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS (CBMP), founded in 2006, unites 112 top broadcasters from 24 countries in the region's first coordinated media response to the pandemic. The Partnership creates a structured framework for sharing information and resources among broadcasters that significantly expands HIV/AIDS-related programming and public education activities across the Caribbean. Member broadcasters deliver HIV/AIDS information across a variety of platforms and formats, including targeted public service announcements (PSAs), entertainment programming, news and public affairs programming, and online resources.

In March 2007, the CBMP launched the umbrella campaign LIVE UP: Love. Protect. Respect., – an innovative cross-cutting brand to support all of the Partnership's programming components. LIVE UP is the first media-led campaign on HIV/AIDS to reach across the entire Caribbean. Its core programming components – radio and television public service ads (PSAs), a monthly news magazine television programme and the www.iliveup.com website, Facebook Page and YouTube Channel – inspire audiences of approximately 40 million, especially young people, to consider what is within their power to do to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS. Additional content, developed and produced by individual member companies, supplements the core content. LIVE UP creates a regional movement by linking audiences together across the Caribbean with one message of hope and possibility in an age of HIV and AIDS.

 

For media enquiries:
Jennifer Grant
Communications Consultant
Tel:876-322-1381
E-mail: jgrant000@gmail.com