Media has role in reducing AIDS stigma: NACO

New Delhi, Apr 23: As a powerful medium for shaping public opinion and setting priorities, the mass media has a major role to play in reducing the stigma of HIV/AIDS, delegates at the ongoing National Conference on Research in HIV/AIDS were told.

The media has a decisive function to perform in reducing stigma by creating informed awareness on AIDS, speakers said at the three-day National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) sponsored conference which got underway on April 21.

However, in India denial still remained the biggest challenge in the battle against HIV/AIDS with more than 90 per cent of the HIV positive people remaining unaware of their status, said experts working in the field since the first HIV case was detected in India in 1986 following the detection of six cases in Tamil Nadu.

Mr M Ramani of the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Deputy Directorate of Medical Services, Chennai, said that in Tamil Nadu, the mass media has yet to play its role in AIDS control.

On the basis of a study undertaken by his Department covering all major English and regional language newspapers in the state as well as Doordarshan and All India Radio between October 1, 2004 and September 30, 2005, it was found that about eight to ten items on HIV/AIDS appeared monthly in the mass media.

The communications strategy for HIV prevention, care and support consists of a three-pronged approach of "Shout, Stir and Stick", stated Dr Arvind Singhal of Ohio University, USA.

Explaining this, he said "shouting" is the role of the advocate or state while "stirring" is the role of the social mobiliser and "sticking" the role of the informer which entails the creation of appropriate communication messages in order to bring about the desired behaviour by individuals.

Citing an example, he said the AIDS quilt was a good example of when the public agenda influenced media agenda which, in turn, moved onto the political agenda.

"The AIDS quilt is a powerful example of collective action where a memorial quilt of persons who had died of AIDS was made and laid out on Capitol Hill in Washington," Dr Singhal said.

In this context, Dr N Bhaskar Rao, media expert, emphasised on more transparency and partnership in HIV/AIDS research to enable the media to have a proactive role in prevention of the epidemic.

Making a presentation on "The Role of Media in HIV/AIDS Prevention", Dr Rao at the same time called for minimising what he called the "awareness trap" and "sponsored bias" present in HIV/AIDS research in India.

UNI