Television campaign in Pakistan

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

Recently I came across a news on the web at SF Gate: San Francisco Chronicle, under the section of AIDS in Asia- "The Continent's Growing Crisis- Pakistani woman battles AIDS stigma in her country".

Interestingly, one section of the report read:

"Taking cultural and societal norms into consideration, nongovernmental organizations have developed a television campaign to promote monogamy. The commercial features a man and woman holding hands while walking under a tree at sunset. But when AIDS workers surveyed viewers, they found that many poorly educated villagers misunderstood the message. They equated walking under a tree at sunset with the spread of AIDS. "

People might think that television is an effective visual domain to spread messages for AIDS program, but this medium must be utilized carefully because it can pass on wrong messages. A bad advertisement not only makes the production look inappropriate, but also contributes to the spread of myths and mis-conceptions, especially when a program is talking about sensitive issue like HIV and AIDS.

Regards,

Raj Doctor