Marie Stopes International has allocated £40,000 to launch a campaign called "Don't play. Protect." targeting Afro-Caribbean teenage women. The campaign aims to promote safe sex and condom use given rising STI rates. It will feature 100 models wearing t-shirts with messages like "I have AIDS" at Piccadilly Circus. The campaign will also use social media and a website including a blog by an HIV-positive woman to raise awareness.

1. Trimedia
International Office
15 - 17 Huntsworth Mews
London
NW1 6DD
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 (0) 207 224 87 78
Fax: + 44 (0) 207 298 65 95
Web: www.trimediagroup.com
PRESS RELEASE
11th January 2010
Marie Stopes International Shocks With Hard-Hitting Safe-Sex
Campaign
Marie Stopes International has allocated £40,000 to a hard-hitting new sexual health campaign.
Running from 13th January 2010, ‘Don’t play. Protect.’ will urge sexually active Afro-Caribbean
teenage women under 21 to make condoms essential wear when they are out on the "pull".
The move coincides with the publication of the latest figures from the Public Health Protection
Report, which show that the UK is facing increasing rates of sexually transmitted diseases
among this target group. Rates of gonorrhoea and chlamydia are about ten times higher in black
Caribbeans and the Afro-Caribbean community has seen a six-fold increase in the HIV-rate since
1995.
The campaign will be launched this Wednesday at London’s
Piccadilly Circus. Altogether 100 Afro-Caribbean models will
mingle with the pedestrians and cause a sensation by wearing
pink t-shirts with striking messages imprinted (i.e. “I have AIDS.”).
A URL on the back of the t-shirts will shed light on the action.
After this first big outing, the campaign will continue to be
promoted through Facebook, Twitter, My Space and via a
dedicated campaign website: www.dont-play-protect.co.uk. One
part of the homepage is a blog of Marvelyn Brown, a 24-year-old
AIDS-infected Afro-Caribbean woman, who openly talks about her
restricted life with this infection.
1

2. Dana Hovig, Chief Executive of Marie Stopes International said, “’Don’t play. Protect.’ is a great
opportunity to get Afro-Caribbean teenage women talking about condoms and safer sex. This is
the first step towards equipping them with the knowledge they need to protect themselves."
According to Julie Douglas, Marketing Manager of Marie Stopes International, "the message
cannot be repeated enough, and must be heard and acted upon if we are to begin to tackle the
unprecedented rates of infection that affects this particular group." Marvelyn Brown said, “As a
young person living with HIV, I feel that I have a responsibility to my community to do whatever I
am able to do to raise awareness of and cure ignorance about AIDS and other STIs.”
END
Notes to Editors
• Marie Stopes International
Marie Stopes International (MSI) is the UK's leading provider of sexual and
reproductive healthcare services. Its nationwide network of sexual health clinics see
over 100,000 men and women each year who come to us for information, advice and
professional care. MSI’s services include: contraception, unplanned pregnancy
counselling, abortion information and advice, help for women needing abortions,
abortion pill and other abortion treatment options, vasectomy information and
vasectomy procedure, female sterilisation, health screening for men and women, and
company health screening. A registered charity, MSI also works around the world in
43 countries.
For further information visit: http://www.mariestopes.org.uk/
CALL24HOURS – information and appointments: 0845 300 809
• ‘Don’t play. Protect.’
Visit the campaign’s website: http://www.dont-play-protect.co.uk
Join Marvelyn Brown on Facebook: Marvelyn Brown
Follow Marvelyn Brown on Twitter: http://twitter.com/marvelyn-brown
Follow Marvelyn Brown on My Space: http://www.myspace.com/marvelyns
• Public Health Protection Report
The Health Protection Report is written by the Health Protection Agency, an
independent UK organisation that was set up by the government in 2003 to protect
the public from threats to their health from infectious diseases and environmental
hazards. It does this by providing advice and information to the general public, to
health professionals such as doctors and nurses, and to national and local
government.
For further information visit: http://www.hpa.org.uk/
Download “Sexually transmitted infections in black African and black Caribbean
communities in the UK: 2008 report” on:
http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1225441605082
Press Contact
Luisa Elena Denuell
PR Consultant
Government & Public Sector
T: +44 (0) 207 224 87 78
M: +44 (0)77 65 51 14 60
Email: ledenuell@trimedia.com
2