"BAIDS, is a network of five major civil society organizations working on HIV/AIDS, which includes CCD (Centre for Communication and Development), Communication for AIDS Prevention project (CAP), Anti-AIDS Journalist Alliance (AJA), Bangladesh Anti-AIDS Students' Alliance (BASA) and CARE Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, with a population of 136 million, had about 13,000 adults and children living with HIV infection at the end 2002, according to UNAIDS estimates. However, only 248 HIV cases have actually been reported.

Significant underreporting of cases occurs because of the country's limited voluntary testing and counseling capacity and the social stigma, which leads to the fear of being identified and detected as HIV positive.

The HIV-prevalence rate among adults between the ages of 15 and 49 is still relatively low, at 0.1 percent of the population. As expected, rates are higher in specific groups, such as injecting drug users who have left treatment (1.7 percent) and commercial sex workers (0.5 percent), according to a national behavioral and serological surveillance undertaken in 2001.

BAIDS programme was initiated with the main objective to provide up-to-date HIV/AIDS related information to inform communication media, journalists, researchers and organizations.

Executive Director Golam Mourtoza says that "At the beginning of this project a separate cell at the CCD office was established which was called Bangladesh AIDS Information and Documentation Service (BAIDS).

This type of center was first of its kind in Bangladesh. BAIDS worked at the same time as HIV/AIDS related news agency and as a resource center.

Its task as news agency was to provide factual reports, features, articles, news items, views etc reports of all the activities of this project as well as various activities of HIV/AIDS program of CARE Bangladesh. Through e-mail and fax these were sent to all the news media, journalists at local and national level, national and international agencies in the country.

In a similar way it provided photograph-library, reports, features, articles, news items and views about agencies working in Bangladesh as well as abroad to combat the deadly disease, their success, experience insights & gain".

BAIDS is also a partner organization of the AIDS-CARE-WATCH campaign and believes that it is vitally important to raise awareness about comprehensive care and support options locally available to people living with HIV in Bangladesh.

For more information please contact: www.baids.net Or write to:

Bangladesh AIDS Information and Dissemination Services (BAIDS), Center for Communication and Development (CCD), Dream Paradise House, Monnafer Morh, Raninagar, Rajshahi-6204, Bangladesh.
Telephone +880-721-751001
Fax +880-721-751001
Hotline +880-11-091441
Email: info@baids.net or ccd@ccdbd.org
Website: www.baids.net  "