Reporting AIDS

“There are no excuses for journalists to remain inactive. The truth must be told” –
Dr Basel Haj Jasem, Al-Arabiya News Channel

AIDS is one of the biggest crises facing the world at the start of the 21st century. A major question is how can the media help to improve public understanding of a crisis that had prompted denial in some countries and brought others to the brink of national disaster.

The statistics are frightening. The number of AIDS deaths since the disease was first reported in the US in 1981 is approaching 30 million. At the end of 2004, there were 39.4 million people, including 2.2 million children, living with HIV and AIDS – more than half of them in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Most stories about AIDS are written once a year, at the end of November or the beginning of December, over World AIDS Day,” said session chairman Jim Laurie, Executive Producer of FocusAsiaTV.org, during a lively debate from which emerged messages for both the media and governments:

Journalists must make their coverage more positive and appealing to the public, particularly to young people
Editors must give more space to the social impact of the crisis and its continuing causes, including prostitution and drugs
Governments must accept the need to be more open and truthful about the facts of the problem
Media and governments must work together to overcome the stigma attached to HIV sufferers in more conservative societies, such as some of those in the Middle East

Kenya-based Salim Amin, CEO of Camerapix, deplored the failure of television channels to broadcast positive stories about HIV sufferers fighting the condition and leading normal lives.

“The problem in Africa is that there is still a big cultural taboo about admitting HIV infection. A lot of deaths from HIV are not reported because families say they died of pneumonia or something else. Also, the international media is not interested in HIV, almost as if to indicate it is suffering from ‘AIDS fatigue’,” he said.

“Also, we are not telling stories in a way that still interests viewers, such as the use of traditional medicines. In Tanzania, there is the story of a noted athlete suffering from HIV who changed his entire diet. Since then, he has led expeditions up (Mount) Kilimanjiro.

“In countries such as Uganda the media has played a huge (awareness) role. But in others such as Ethiopia they still live in denial. It is difficult to report on the subject in Botswana, while Kenya is accepting the problem,” Amin said.

In South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki took a controversial denial stand on HIV and AIDS. But, in the past 18 months, prominent people have come forward to force the issue into the public consciousness by challenging a taboo that is prevalent in many parts of Africa.

This process started when former South African President Nelson Mandela revealed that his eldest son Makgatho Mandela, aged 54, had died of AIDS and urged fresh efforts to fight the scourge.

“Mandela was strong enough to admit publicly his son had died of AIDS when most people thought it was something else. This had an impact on society and in African countries,” said Jimi Matthews, head of TV news at the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

“As media people, we in South Africa carry a large responsibility in the way we report on HIV and AIDS. One of the challenges is to start reporting on people living with AIDS rather than people dying with AIDS.

“Unless we move away from the notion that you die a painful and lonely death with AIDS, we don’t have much chance. We made the mistake of making it a problem of minorities such as drug addicts and homosexuals. Large sections of society then think that it is not their problem,” Matthews added.

Turning to the Middle East, Dr Basel Haj Jasem, a journalist with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya News Channel and a medical doctor, said in most Arab countries there was no official data on the number of people with HIV/AIDS.

“Some countries even deport foreigners when they find they have HIV. It is not the guilt of the media that they do not have programmes on the subject. This is due to traditions and religion not only in Arab countries but also in conservative countries,” Dr Jasem said.

“There are no excuses for journalists to remain inactive. The truth must be told,” he added.

Dr Jasem said two of the problems related to the spread of HIV/AIDS were prostitution and infected needles used by illicit drug-takers. “These issues are being covered in Kazakhstan and people are discussing whether prostitution should be legalised,” he added.

“One problem that has not been acknowledged is that people have relations outside marriage. This is true in the Middle East and other conservative societies,” Jasem said.

Dr Issidora Yerassilova, Director-General of Kazakhstan’s Republican Centre for AIDS Prevention and Control, appealed for specialised training for journalists, including editors, so that they can better contribute to public understanding, together with government information campaigns.

Speaking of public prejudice in Kazakhstan and other countries against HIV carriers, she said: “The media have a tremendous role to play in changing public opinion.”

Alexander Shatalov, founder of Russia’s Glagol Publishing House, said: “In Russia, I believe that mass media are guilty to an extent because they are leading us into gridlock. They are trying to scare away people, saying every sexual contact can cause trouble.”