Sida dans la Cité 3 (AIDS in the City)

1. The first story, screened at the official launching, is entitled "The story of fiancés" and is based on the themes of prenuptial testing and accepting one's HIV+ status. Two up-and-coming young people received the consent of their parents to get married. As preparations for the arriage were under way, Nathalie, the young woman, proposed to her fiancé that they should go for a blood test.
2. The second film of the series, "Adams, the Truck Driver", aims to sensitise the public about risky behaviours on highways. Following the public testimony of one of his HIV-positive friends, Adams, a young driver who owns his own truck, decides to adopt a new attitude in is sex life. He assesses the risk of contamination to which he exposed himself as he spent time on his stopovers with casual partners. He slowly realises the need to go in for the HIV test, but Kadi, his concubine, does not share his desire, since she absolutely wants to have a child.
3. "Amoin Séry" addresses risky behaviours associated with polygamy. Amoin Séry works as a maid in a maquis (small restaurant) and to make ends meet, she accepts from time to time proposals from clients of the bar, who give her some money in exchange for sex. In the maquis, she meets Jacky Serapo. The two women, linked by the drama of the village become friends. One day, the husband of Amoin Séry, the village chief, comes to Abidjan for an HIV test. At the testing centre, he is put into contact with Jacky.
4. The last episode, "Fatoumata, the HIV-positive mother" highlights the problem of mother-to-childtransmission. In a popular district, Fatoumata, a pregnant woman, is informed that she is infected with HIV. She is totally overwhelmed and does not know how to break the news to Joseph, her husband who has just paid the dowry.Indeed, as soon as she informed him of her HIV-positive status, the latter immediately repudiated her. She asked for help from Mrs. Jacky Serapo, her former neighbour, who is now an adviser at the HIV testing centre. Together, they try to sensitise Joseph to save the child's life and learn to live through their situation.

HIV/AIDS.

Organisers believe the SDLC is the perfect "vehicle" for sensitising the public on a number of problems associated with HIV/AIDS. The main objectives of the programme are:

• to encourage the sexually active population to adopt healthy habits;
• to increase the demand for voluntary counselling and testing services;
• to destigmatise people living with HIV by demonstrating the possibility of living positively with the virus.

The film will be shown on television in 10 francophone countries of West and Central Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Senegal, Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea) with thesupport of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation (TCCAF).

The series' 4 separate stories promote responsible behaviour change amongst the sexually active populations of West and Central Africa, motivate increased demand for and use of voluntary counseling and HIV testing services, and aim to reduce stigmatisation of people living with HIV/AIDS by demonstrating the possibility of living positively with the virus.