By Graciela Damiano BBC Focus On Africa magazine

Angola's refugees' return has prompted concern

Organisations from Brazil are helping Angola tackle its potential Aids crisis.

Brazilian journalists are running a media campaign on the state channel Na��o Coragem (Brave Nation), including regular radio programmes, TV spots and in-depth reports on different aspects of the virus.

Angola, like several other southern African countries, relies on Brazilian expertise in dealing with HIV/Aids. Brazil's campaign against the illness is regarded by the World Health Organisation as one of the most successful.

"Communications when dealing with Aids is very difficult because it cannot be just propaganda," Sergio Guerra, a managing director of Marketing Link, one of the advertising agencies involved, told the BBC Focus On Africa magazine.

"It is not about creating some sort of pun to gain visibility. It has to be didactic and correct because you cannot let HIV-positive people be stigmatised."

Migration risks

Although Angola's Aids prevalence rate is believed to be far lower than in the countries around it, at 5.5% of the adult population, there is concern that the virus could rapidly spread - partly due to the return of large numbers of Angolans who fled to neighbouring countries during the country's civil war.

According to the UN High Commission for Refugees, 200,000 fled to Zambia, 163,000 to DR Congo, 24,000 to Namibia and 16,000 to Congo-Brazzaville.

Brazil has an excellent record at fighting Aids

These countries are among the worst affected by HIV/Aids, with an infection rate of more than 20%.

But Brazil's HIV prevalence rate is 0.7% - and it is that success that is causing other countries to seek their help.

Brazilian journalists also produce a TV programme in Botswana with documentaries and live discussions on the subject, and the country has also announced that it will set up a factory in Mozambique to produce cheaper anti-retroviral drugs.

Mr Guerra said he found the challenge to promote awareness in Africa even bigger than in Brazil.

"Here, sex is seen as leisure and children as wealth. Men want many children," he said.

He added that other problems included the high level of illiteracy - especially in the Angolan countryside - and catering for the different languages, which makes any health campaign much more complex and expensive.

"[To do a proper campaign] you need to have multiplication agents to reach the people in rural areas," he said.

"The authorities, community leaders, they all need to be made aware of the dangers of HIV/Aids.

"We need to be very sensitive to cultural traditions."

'Invest in prevention'

Mr Guerra estimated that an ideal campaign against HIV/Aids in Angola could cost up to US$30m.

He stressed he was disappointed that Angola was not a priority when the Aids pandemic is discussed at international forums.

Brazil has also promised to help with cheap drugs manufacture

"The United States announced that they are giving $15bn to fight Aids in the next three years, but they are giving nothing to Angola," he said, adding that he would like to see more money invested in prevention.

"For each dollar that you invest in prevention you save $10 or $100 in treatment."

The programme is already having its successes, however.

Na��o Coragem has made a number of stories on how HIV tests are performed part of its broadcasts.

Since then there has been an increase in voluntary testing in many areas of Luanda.