Positive Voices for Change to Fight against HIV and AIDS

Abstract

"In 2009-2010, the World Association of Christian Communication (WACC) and the Ecumenical Commission for Human Development embarked on a project called “Fostering AIDS Initiatives That Heal” (Project FAITH) for reducing discrimination and stigmatization towards HIV positive people. The aim was to discourage the labelling of people living with HIV and AIDS as immoral and to help people to face the challenges of the epidemic by providing information and knowledge and deepen understanding of HIV and AIDS. The project involved religious communities, people living with HIV and AIDS, young leaders and local media personnel in Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistan at present is categorized as a “Low Prevalence High Risk” country for HIV virus infections. While HIV prevalence appears to be low in Pakistan at present, the presence of a number of vulnerabilities and risky behavioural patterns suggest the need for urgent, prioritized, and coordinated action to curtail the emergence of a widespread epidemic. Poverty, gender inequalities and low levels of education and literacy all contribute to HIV vulnerability in Pakistan. Other related factors that can increase vulnerability at the individual level include unemployment, social exclusion or marginalization, physical and/or mental abuse, and gender-based discrimination. Presently the overall sero-prevalence of HIV among injection drug users (IDUs) is 15.8% and among male sex workers (MSWs) it is 1.5% – 1.8%. In line with the epidemic trend, there has been a renewed focus by the Government and Development Partners towards rapidly scaling up prevention and service delivery programs for high risk groups particularly IDUs, nevertheless coverage is still a major challenge facing AIDS programs. HIV and AIDS is a relatively new sector in Pakistan. The response to the epidemic at all levels has been too slow. Though government and civil society organizations started their involvement and concern in the early 1990s, the scale and quality of these interventions remained debatable. The reasons are not difficult to identify. Lack of reliable epidemiological data, reliable information about the problem itself, access to information, absence of technical expertise to design suitable interventions, deficient technical skills to implement the projects and above all the stigma and discrimination attached with HIV and AIDS made it almost impossible for such interventions to succeed. Practically speaking there was no advocacy at the grassroots level for the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS and very few dared to speak up for the rights of vulnerable and marginalized groups. The right to information is one of the basic human rights and lack of access to basic knowledge and information about HIV and AIDS is one of the contributing factors to the increase in high risk behaviour. Moreover, easily available information helps in the reduction of stigma and discrimination. Effective prevention and control of HIV and AIDS largely depend upon effective communication of information about the epidemic. But due to Pakistan’s cultural and social norms it is still considered a taboo in society which results in discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS. For this purpose we need to communicate authentic, reliable and rights-based messages about HIV and AIDS using an effective communication strategy."(pg 1)