UNAIDS urges journalists to help reduce stigma and discrimination

Geeta Sethi (left) gives her closing remarks at the seminar with K.P. Madhu, AIBD Programme Manager.

By Chhay Sophal
chhaysophal@yahoo.com

Beijing, China (Monday 27 April, 2009): Because of clear understanding of journalists’
important role in the society, a sentence involving with HIV/AIDS is said “Journalists can save more lives than doctors”.

The sentence was voiced by former UNAIDS Director Dr. Peter Poit and it has been echoed by his colleagues and many other AIDS activists around the globe.

During a two-day regional “Media Leaders’ Seminar” last week in Beijing, China, participants who are journalists and AIDS workers from government institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and international agencies in nine Asian countries agreed with the sentence as they think that journalists really have influence to send the mass public messages on the epidemic and prevention of AIDS, killing millions of people in the world.

Speaking in her opening remarks at the seminar, Geeta Sethi, Manager of Regional Support Team in Asia and the Pacific of APLF which is the sub-division of UNAIDS, also reminded the seminar the sentence adding that journalists really have the most crucial role in responding to AIDS because they have provided opportunity to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and AIDS affected people a voice to say what they need from the society, especially the issue regarding to stigma, and discrimination.

She said stigma and discrimination are still the problems and they are the sensitive issues for some nations because of social norms and cultural restriction. Such case, she said, journalists are really necessary and they can help change the negative attitude so that PLHA and other vulnerable people can get care, support, prevention and ARV treatment easily.

In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Li Xiguang, School of Journalism and Communication Executive Director at Tsinghua University in Beijing, also said “Journalism is the destruction weapon for diseases” as he meant that journalists send messages to everywhere in order to let people be aware of the danger of diseases, especially HIV/AIDS that has no medicine to cure so far.

In Cambodia, HIV prevalence among people aged 15 to 49 has dropped by 2% in 1998 to
0.9% in 2006 and according to the National AIDS Authority, the prevalence could fall to 0.5% by 2012. National and international AIDS workers say the drop is a big part of journalists’ participation and that “HIV transmission is so fast but journalists’ message is faster”.

AIDS workers express their concerns that if there is no more effort the second wave of HIV epidemic could return once again, especially return to vulnerable people like beer promotion women, female massagers, karaoke women, men who have sex with men, mobile people/migrants, including pregnant women who can transmit HIV to their babies if they are HIV-positive.

In the Media Leaders’ Seminar held on April 23-24, participants promised to set up communication network in order to provide information to each other and share what they say “Do you know? You might not know. Never give up and don’t forget. Remove discrimination. (Be) the leaders, responsibilities, and stay well inform. Speak out against ignorance, prejudice, and deception,...”. The participants are from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In their group presentation, Cambodian team raised that stigma and discriminations are the worms causing isolation, being unable to access to information, living separation in society, human rights abuse, and poverty while stigma and discrimination become worst and such things can lead to more HIV transmission.

The Cambodian participants also suggested that the reduction of stigma and discrimination for AIDS affected people and other vulnerable persons can be done until there is participation from all sectors with support from law and law enforcement.

Besides communities’ support, they said, the people who matter must be strong themselves and try to build their own capacity as well.

Geeta Sethi on behalf of UNAIDS also agreed with the points and urged again and again media outlets and practitioners to more help continue their movement of stigma and discrimination reduction saying that “Because of stigma and discrimination, we invite journalists in Southeast Asia, including China and Mongolia, to discuss here in China”.