Staying Alive: New Book Teaches Children the ABC's of HIV
AIDS is the single largest cause of death due to infectious disease in the world today. Some 40 million people worldwide are infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. Approximately 3 million AIDS deaths occurred in 2001 alone. The AIDS crisis is most evident in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 26 million or between 1 in 3 and 1 in 4 people are infected with HIV.
Mnotho Primary School, Kwa Zulu Natal. |
Dr. John Inglis, Executive Director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, is a member of a team of scientists and educators committed to developing effective, innovative, and sustainable HIV/AIDS prevention strategies for young people in South Africa and other vulnerable communities. They have prepared an important book entitled Staying Alive: Fighting HIV/AIDS which presents life-saving information in a direct, engaging, and age-appropriate manner to children aged 12 to 16. Researchers at the 2002 International AIDS Conference reported that in many countries, 6 in 10 new HIV infections occur in people under 15 years old.
Cover illustration from the book Staying Alive. |
With funds from NIH, Oxford University, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 20,000 copies of Staying Alive were produced by CSHL Press and distributed at three locations in South Africa in July and August. "To make sure the book's content was appropriate and to ensure its effective distribution in each location, we worked closely with local organizations—teachers, students, after-school programs, orphanages, and community activists in squatter camps" says John. "It was important for us to hear directly from the affected communities about how best to proceed. For example, many people told us the first draft of the book was not direct enough about how HIV is transmitted sexually."
The publication of Staying Alive was the idea of Professor Siamon Gordon of Oxford University. Professor Gordon is South African and trained in medicine there before becoming a research scientist at Rockefeller University, then at Oxford. "Although I may have little reason to be, I am optimistic about the future in South Africa because so many people are now responding to the need to do something about AIDS education. I believe that if young people have correct information about HIV, they will seek to protect themselves," says Gordon.
John Inglis, Executive Director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, with student. |
Staying Alive was written by Professor Frances Balkwill of Bart's Hospital Medical School, London, and illustrated by Mic Rolph. Balkwill and Rolph have previously collaborated on several highly successful children's books for CSHL Press, including Enjoy Your Cells, Germ Zappers, Have A Nice DNA, and Gene Machines.
To gain better understanding of the book's audience before creating Staying Alive, Balkwill and Rolph first visited schools, squatter camps, and orphanages in the provinces of Gauteng (Johannesburg) and Kwa-Zulu Natal (Durban), South Africa, where they met with students, teachers, medical scientists, and health professionals. Professor Gordon made similar visits in the Western Cape (Capetown) and had helpful discussions with the South African Medical Research Council. In all of these encounters, the urgent need for scientifically accurate, learner-friendly, and culturally sensitive HIV/AIDS education materials were strongly and consistently voiced.
The book resulting from these experiences incorporates artwork created by children during workshops conducted by Mic Rolph, as well as Rolph's own illustrations of the biology of HIV and how the use of condoms can block the spread of AIDS. With its lively graphics and direct language, Staying Alive gives explicit messages about the risks of disease, ways of preventing infection, the building of relationships based on mutual care, and the need for compassion and respect towards people living with HIV. 
Vukani Mawethu High School, Mamelodi, Gauteng. |
The available copies of the book are being distributed free of charge to educators and students from repositories in Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal, and the Western Cape. Teachers, academics, and community activists have been recruited to conduct classroom exercises designed to evaluate the book's effectiveness and provide feedback for the development of future editions of Staying Alive and other teaching materials. "It's already clear that although most young South Africans are aware of the existence of HIV, they have many unanswered questions and misconceptions—for example, the believe that the disease can only be transmitted by people who have visible symptoms of AIDS," says John. "We chose to produce Staying Alive in English first because that is the widespread language of instruction in high schools but ultimately, we want to produce translations in Afrikaans, Zulu, and Xhosa. Regrettably, we were told repeatedly that there is an urgent need for a book on the same subject aimed at 7 to 12 year olds, since that age group is at increasing risk." John and his colleagues are seeking grants to support the continuation of their work in South Africa, and the adaptation of the book for distribution in other countries where HIV infection is of growing concern, including the United States and Europe.
Map of South Africa showing locations of Staying Alive book distribution repositories. |
The book distribution tour included receptions in each province attended by local politicians and educators as well as meetings with the South African Minister of Education, Dr. Kadar Asmal, the well-known satirist and AIDS educator, Pieter-Dirk Uys, participants in the Memory Box Project at the University of Capetown, and representatives of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). During and after the tour, the creators of Staying Alive also received feedback from Christian missionaries, traditional healers, and even soccer clubs interested in helping fight the spread of AIDS in South Africa.
"Many of the people we heard from said that fighting the sense of hopelessness was both difficult and important" says John. "Kadar Asmal put it best when he said, 'There is no cure or medical vaccine for AIDS, so education must be the social vaccine."
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