Democratizing HIV Communication

In this "Development Outreach" article published by the World Bank, Thomas Scalway asserts that there remain serious divides and disconnects between those creating AIDS information and agendas and those silently affected. Using parallels with the role of information in broader society, this article aims to make a start at "showing how the media can democratize, illuminate and energize the response to the pandemic".

Empowering by information

The biennial 2004 International AIDS Conference in Thailand centred around the theme "Access For All". Using this theme as a rallying call, Scalway argues that "'access' is not only about AIDS care, treatment and prevention services. Access for all should encompass access to information, and access to platforms to air views and health priorities, particularly those of the most affected. Scalway hopes that those working for an independent, critical and responsive media on AIDS will adopt and rally behind this slogan.

"Development economists write of the 'information rich' and the 'information poor' (Zielinski 2001). The pattern of HIV distribution neatly echoes the distribution of information and communication access. It is the communities most disenfranchised with the information society that bear the brunt of the AIDS epidemic, including the poor, the displaced, sex-workers, young women, migrants, and others. The patterns of poor health, and poor information opportunity are often the result of more fundamental social and political economic inequities. 'AIDS moves through the fracture points of society' (Farmer 1992), consistently affecting those already disadvantaged through inequitable gender, social, or economic relations. Media and communication can bridge these divides. The ability to communicate, to create and receive information, and to share perspectives is central to advocacy, activism, and civil society participation."

Mobilizing civil society

"A common question in health policy circles is 'how can we mobilize civil society?' Too often the answer centers only on pushing out information. The more appropriate question for health policymakers would be 'how do we enable civil society to mobilize us?' This is particularly true in countries with weak infrastructure, poor governance, stifled media, and meager resources. And part of the answer to this question is to support media capacity, growth, and freedom to engage with AIDS (Carrington 2002)."

Creating networks

"Networking the AIDS community involves creating connections across some of the political, social, and gender inequalities that fuel the epidemic (Panos/UNFPA 2001)." Scalway believes there is potential for the changes in the contemporary media environments to make this happen "through greater pluralism, access to information, and democratization". But these changes also bring about a highly advertising-driven and commercial media, often prone to sensationalism. Instead, Scalway advocates for community media programmes directed by HIV positive people for HIV positive people.

"There has been an explosion of radio stations in many developing countries and an associated upsurge in talk radio. Discussion programs, phone-ins and other talk-based formats are increasingly popular and provide some of the most powerful examples of development programming. This format brings greater equity to the production of knowledge and understanding about HIV/AIDS. Stories told by HIV positive people, sympathetically treated on a radio program, can arguably have far more effect than more conventional communication messages, and there are many examples of this happening (see Soul City example)."

In conclusion, Thomas Scalway emphasises that access to information, access to public debate, and access to a media that can speak for, to and across communities is an important and necessary component to bringing the communities most affected by HIV/AIDS into the discourses that determine the response.

"Development Outreach" is a magazine in the field of global knowledge for development which reflects the learning programmes of the World Bank and aim to present a range of viewpoints by renowned authors and specialists worldwide. It is published three times a year and is designed to occupy a middle ground between the scholarly journal and the general interest magazine.