Phil Hay, Communications Advisor for the Bank’s Human Development network, opened the session with introductions of the panelists. Gerard Rice, Director of the Bank’s Corporate Communications, quoted Bank President James Wolfensohn who said AIDS is turning back the clock on development and cited an example that more teachers are dying in Africa than can be trained.
Keith Hansen, Manager of the Bank’s ACTafrica, who has said silence is a major contributor for the spreading of AIDS, noting information and awareness is the first step to curb the epidemic. He cited Uganda as an example who despite the lack of resources, open communication about the disease help stem growing infection rates. Information is key because AIDS is a social disease that can be influenced by norms set in part by the media, he said. In Africa, he noted, an effective way of getting information out to the public has been via radio talk shows. Hansen said AIDS is just as significant a threat as it was a decade ago and that the media needs to stay engaged with its coverage. Funding for research and services is in more supply now than before, and he called upon the media to deliver that message to stakeholders. He said the AIDS Media Center was a clearinghouse for unbiased information. AIDS is only a symptom of deep inequalities that exist in the world today, he suggested. He encouraged journalists to look at the social forces beyond the epidemic. Innovative and small scale solutions at the community level need to be examined more closely. Hansen suggested too much media coverage focuses on money and not enough on care, treatment and prevention. He added a cautionary note that spreading information is not enough as behavioral norms also need to be changed. He called upon the global media to hold donors, governments and themselves accountable to their respective responsibilities.
Mahesh Mahalingam of UNAIDS said the media has been an important partner is putting the disease at the forefront of global attention. UNAIDS has worked to harmonize messages and approaches coming from the UN, NGO and donor community. He cited the recent Three One’s principles which called for one national strategic framework, one national monitoring and evaluation plan and one resource mobilization strategy as an example of harmonization. He said the plan should be the same for the media. Mahalingam said there was still a disconnect between awareness and actual behavior. He suggested there were other determinants for the transmission of the disease including violence, sexual abuse and women’s empowerment. It was also important to begin discussing AIDS as more than a health issue but as a development issue as well.
Anthony Bloome of the Bank’s Human Development network, walked the audience through the AIDS Media Center website. He called the website a portal of information that had been aggregated from a number of content providers. He called the media center an important vehicle for helping local journalists when covering the issue. He noted part of the website is closed for credentialed media professionals and is used for items such as embargoed reports. There will a calendar of events and training opportunities. The various partners in the project have suggested that they would seek to contribute to different parts of the website creating a lucrative environment for cross fertilization.
After Rice launched the new website, the panel broke for lunch, then reconvened for the roundtable discussion on the role of the media in combating AIDS. The roundtable participants included: Joan Mower, International Broadcasting Bureau; Cece Fadope, Internews Resident Adviser, Nigeria; Rob Taylor, Director of Science and Environmental Programs at the International Center for Journalists; Gifti Nadi, Africa Project Manager for the International Women’s Media Foundation; Phil Hay of the Bank’s Human Development network; Mahesh Mahalingam of UNAIDS; Tom Scalway of PANOS; Keith Hansen of the Bank’s ACTafrica; Jackie Davies of OneWorld International; Jennifer Kates, Director of HIV Policy at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation; and Hugh Rigby, Chief of Media and Information Resources at the Center for Communications Programs at John Hopkins University.
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