AIDS: credible messengers
World AIDS day features 1991(1): 1-3
1991
PMID: 12317217 Document Number: 317603
Evidence suggest that AIDS prevention messages are not getting through and that people continue to deny the threat of AIDS, developments that underscore the importance of credible messengers. Evidence suggests that myths and misconceptions about AIDS remain common around the world. Even in the US, a 1/3 of the population continues to believe that the virus can be transmitted through casual contact. Although complicated and contradictory messages are partly to blame for the confusion, denial remains one of the greatest obstacles to AIDS prevention. Many people -- especially young people -- simply believe that AIDS cannot affect them. In order to overcome this barrier, effective messengers are needed, and 2 of the most effective ones are people with AIDS (PWAs) and "insider" messengers. As Richard Rector, a 34-year-old Californian with AIDS, explains, PWAs have learned to live with the disease, and some have been able to transcend it. Thus, they are able to help people overcome their fear. PWAs humanize the education process. Programs that involve PWAs have been used to educate young people in many countries, including the US, Brazil, Kenya, and Zambia. Another effective messenger is the insider, himself or herself a member of the target group. The use of an insider is particularly effective when the target group in question faces stigma or harassment, groups such as prostitutes and drug users. In Ghana, an AIDS education campaign recruited female prostitutes to serve as educators and to distribute condoms. 3 months into the project, condom use among prostitutes had increased from 13% to 94%. The effectiveness of both strategies is that the education process is not didactic but participatory.