TORONTO - A new campaign to promote HIV testing is trying to reach young Canadians where they’re at - on the Internet and listening to tunes.

And it’s relying on the talents of rockers U2 and hip-hop sensation Mary J. Blige to get them to pay attention.One Life, an online initiative launched Monday at luvu2.ca, targets sexually active youth ages 18-30 and urges them to practise safe sex and get tested for HIV.

It aims to spread the word through an online video set to U2’s hit song One, recorded with Blige and made available by the artists at no charge.

The campaign is a collaboration of Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, which makes pharmaceuticals including drugs to treat HIV-AIDS, and Universal Music Canada.

It also involved AIDS service organizations, medical clinics and testing facilities, and physicians.The companies, hoping to create a buzz on networks, forums and blogs, are pledging a $1 corporate donation to HIV-AIDS prevention groups every time a viewer forwards the video.

Murray Jose, executive director of the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation and a spokesperson for the campaign, said he’s worried the evolution of medications to treat HIV-AIDS has created a false sense of security among youth, with some mistakenly believing the disease is curable.

He said testing is critical because one in three people infected with HIV don’t know they have it.There is “a huge need” to keep repeating messages about the importance of protected sex and HIV tests to every new crop of teens, he added, and the Internet campaign is an innovative way to grab their attention and point them to more information.

While the rate of new reported cases of HIV has declined overall in Toronto, recent health statistics show an increase among those ages 20-24.

The One Life website includes a search tool to help people find local testing facilities and links to sources of sexual health and HIV information.

Alex McKay, research co-ordinator of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, says the fact that celebrities are lending their names for the promotion of sexual health is “laudable” and long overdue.

- CanadaEast.com

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