SAY NO TO AIDS (Book of poems)

ABSTRACT


Researcher: Tikum Mbah Azonga
Book title: Say No To AIDS (Poems)

This collection of poems combines the art of poetry which is an ancient one with that of health care, while using the medium of mass communication. As such, the issue of health communication is approached through the creative arts and literature. This is the kind of measure Cameroon needs in order to do what countries at the fore front of the fight against HIV AIDS are already doing, with some degree of success: containing the Bubonic plague.

This book aims at sensitizing the general public, but especially young people on the risks and ravages caused by the HIV AIDS pandemic. The methodology used in the book includes poems, some in French and some in English – without there being any translation of poems from one language into the other- thus taking into account the fact that Cameroon is a nation that uses both English and French as national languages. The poems are graduated in order to broaden the base of readership. Each poem is also set within a context that is clearly defined.

Questions the poems set out to investigate include: What is HIV AIDS? What are its symptoms? What are its vulnerable groups in society? How much damage has the pandemic caused? What are the remedial steps taken so far? What are the future prospects of the deadly disease? Finding answers to the above questions would enable stakeholders in the area of HIV AIDS in particular and health care in general to gain a deeper understanding of the pandemic and be better placed to stem its rising tide.

Copyright 2011