HIV Communication Missing the message?

[Guest guest]

Panos London's new report on HIV Communication Missing the message?

After years of neglect, more money and political interest is being directed

towards AIDS than ever before. But is today's response to the pandemic learning

from the lessons of the past, lessons now stretching back over 20 years? Large

sums of money have been spent on activities aiming to achieve rapid results.

Often the results have been disappointing or short lived.

This report focuses on the way in which the response to the pandemic has been

shaped, with a particular emphasis on the way in which communication has been

used. Often the emphasis is on information dissemination, and the distribution

of health messages.

While information is vital, past successes in fighting AIDS suggest that

approaches need to be far broader than this. A politicised civil society, with

communities able to take ownership of the response to HIV/AIDS, can catalyse

extraordinary change and mobilisation. Similarly, a media able to support

informed, inclusive debate will also be critical to future successes.

Missing the message? provides an overview of these issues, and suggests how the

problems of HIV Communication can begin to be addressed through work with

policymakers, civil society and the media.

A PDF version of this report is available on the Panos London website, also

available is an archive of reports on HIV/AIDS published over the last two

decades are now available online.

http://www.panos.org.uk/global/program_news.asp?ID=1001

Good reading,

Anushree

ANUSHREE MISHRA

Programme Manager,

Public Health,

Panos South Asia,

GPO Box,13651,

Kathmandu, Nepal.

E-mail<anushree@...>