In an effort to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma, international media development nonprofit Internews Network has trained and mentored more than 1,000 local journalists on covering the epidemic, PNN Online reports.

Leaders of the program from four participating countries—India, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia—will meet to discuss their work September 9 in Washington, DC, at the National Press Club for a panel discussion titled “Why Local Media Matters for Public Health.”

“We estimate that these 1,000 journalists we trained reached a combined audience of 150 million people,” said Laurie Zivetz, PhD, director of Internews’ HIV/AIDS media training and mentoring project. “So you can make the case that one journalist trained in HIV/AIDS reporting can single-handedly, on average, reach 150,000 people. That’s a tremendously effective use of resources.”

“Journalists are the prism through which fargreater populations learn about this disease, so it’s vitally importantthat they get the information correct,” said Dr. Zivetz. “As themessenger, journalists have the ability—literally—to save lives.”