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Congo: Abstinence Gets Stamp of Approval KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 7, 2005 — The postal service of the DRC has issued a series of postage stamps promoting abstinence and other HIV protection strategies, using words and images drawn directly from PSI's AIDSMark program's newly launched "delayed debut campaign" now rolling out across Africa. PSI/ DRC, in collaboration with the postal service and with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is using the series of six stamps to reinforce three of its communications campaigns: abstinence among youth, HIV prevention with truckers and Prudence brand condoms for high risk behavior. Four of the six stamps promote abstinence and delayed sex among youth. The design of the stamps comes directly from a regional PSI mass media campaign composed of TV, radio and print that is running simultaneously across the DRC and, in similar forms, in four other African countries. It is currently active in seven countries and will eventually reach millions of people in 18 countries in West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. Two stamps each are dedicated to the campaign slogans of "A real man waits" and "A real woman waits." Each stamp has specific messages targeting certain gender-related issues such as: "A real man is never pressured by his friends to make love" and "A real woman thinks of her future before thinking about making love." The delayed debut campaign was based on extensive research that examined reasons for early sexual relations. The campaign addresses the issues of sexual violence, peer pressure, cross-generational sex and the transition to adulthood as barriers to delayed debut. A fifth stamp highlight's PSI/DRC's approach to fighting the epidemic among truck drivers: The Roulez Protegez (Drive Protected) campaign is a successful approach that USAID/DRC has hailed as an effective and cost-effective program that has produced a "multiplier effect." The final stamp features PSI's newly-redesigned Prudence condom brand, which was PSI's first condom brand in Africa, launched in 1987. In the 1980s, the government issued an HIV-related postage stamp to show the country was at the forefront of the HIV/AIDS response. The government sees these new postage stamps as a sign of renewed dedication to the issue and that it is back and ready to move once again into a leadership position in HIV/AIDS prevention. PSI's DRC program, which has operated without interruption since 1987, is one of its oldest in Africa and the site of PSI's first HIV/AIDS prevention program anywhere. A 1992 study shows that PSI successfully promoted abstinence, mutual fidelity and correct and consistent condom use starting in 1988, a strategy that has come to be known as the ABC approach. This is not the first time that PSI has managed to get its brands and health message on postage stamps with USAID support. In 2004, PSI placed a sticker with an HIV/AIDS prevention message on every piece of domestic and international mail in Nepal, ensuring that the message would reach the most remote corners of this mountainous kingdom. PSI has also put the logo of its New Start network of voluntary HIV counseling and testing centers on a Zimbabwean stamp in 2000 and its Salama brand condoms on a Tanzanian stamp in 1997. — Sarah Wyss, PSI/Washington
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