Public Campaign Ad Featuring Patient Draws Criticism

March 31, 2011

CDC 03-30-11

SOUTH KOREA: " Public Campaign Ad Featuring Patient Draws Criticism "

Korea Times (Seoul) (03.28.11):: Kim Tae-jong

A new hepatitis B virus awareness campaign's TV advertisement is being

criticized as too vivid and intense. Sponsored by the Korean Association for the

Study of the Liver (KASL), depicts an HBV patient with jaundice and other signs

of end-stage disease. The ad, which stresses the importance of regular medical

checkups, is now being re-edited in response to the concerns.

" I felt like I'm dying soon. It's terrifying. It just made me feel hopeless, "

wrote one member of an online community for HBV patients. A number of similar

comments were posted at patient-support websites, with some demanding the ad be

pulled.

" The ad violates the human rights of the patients with the disease, which is

overlooked in the name of disease prevention, " another website member posted.

Online criticism also said the ad may imply that carelessness led to the patient

being infected with HBV. Some 3.5 million South Koreans, or 5 percent to 8

percent of the population, have chronic HBV, and discrimination is still very

much a concern.

" Watching the ad, people will not want to hire a carrier of the virus or marry

him or her, " said one site user. " Why did a censorship body allow such a

horrible and discriminative ad to be aired? "

" In the beginning, we focused on showing the tragic outcome so that people would

recognize the seriousness of the disease and the importance of regular medical

checkups, " a KASL official said in response. " We hope people understand our

original intentions. "

A new version of the ad will debut in April.

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