NCJ Number
121962
Journal
Canadian Journal of Public Health Volume: 80 Dated: (May/June 1989) Pages: S9-S11
Date Published
1989
Length
3 pages
Annotation
There is much that needs to be learned about the best way of designing and delivering AIDS education messages so that an interruption of the chain of HIV transmission can be achieved without victimizing certain individuals or groups in the name of the greater social good.
Abstract
AIDS education should as a matter of course include components which explain the dangers and drawbacks of AIDS discrimination. These dangers constitute not only the harmful impact on the victims of discrimination and their families and associates, but also their snowball effect: the way in which individual acts of discrimination, especially if officially sanctioned or ignored, tend to lend support to false beliefs about HIV transmission, and result in driving persons affected by HIV and AIDS further away from medical support and social assistance. AIDS campaigning is now concerning itself more with the presentation of acceptable, practical strategies for behavioral changes and with the positive reinforcement and social support of these changes. If respect and self-esteem, a sense of family and community responsibility, and a belief in nondiscrimination against those with HIV and AIDS are some of the identifiable building blocks of persuasive and effective AIDS prevention programs, then nongovernmental and community-based groups with their voluntary ethic and self-help philosophies will be well-situated to disseminate the message. 4 references.