Informational and Educational Material; Censorship

• Pages: 181-183

Contenidos

• The Issue.
• Legal and Policy Considerations.
• Practice Examples.
• References.

Page 181

The Issue

The public availability and accessibility of scientifically accurate informational and educational materials is vital to efforts to prevent HIV transmission, link infected persons with health care and other services, and reduce the stigma and discrimination often directed at PLHIV and their families. Informational and educational materials should be widely accessible to all persons to ensure effective dissemination, available in languages understood by communities, and respectful of cultural traditions. Information should not perpetuate stereotypes, enable discrimination, or avoid explicit discussion of sensitive topics such as sex and drug use.

Censoring information related to HIV/AIDS is a common occurrence that can have detrimental effects on outreach programs, thwart the implementation of effective HIV prevention strategies, and exacerbate social stigma against HIV-positive persons. Critics of providing greater access to education and information programs insist that unrestricted information on certain prevention and awareness practices equals government support for dangerous or disfavored lifestyles. These critics may oppose, for example, information about condoms and sterile injection equipment on the theory that this information encourages behaviors such as promiscuous sex and injecting drug use. However, evidence demonstrates that these fears are unfounded, and that increased knowledge about a range of HIV-related issues is important to make HIV prevention and treatment programs a success and to protect against discrimination.

Legal and Policy Considerations

National laws and policies often require information to be disseminated as a component of HIV prevention and treatment programs. Some countries have created laws or policies that mandate the dissemination of specific information (e.g., how HIV is transmitted; effective prevention techniques; access to testing, counseling, and treatment) while others more generally endorse the importance of this information and encourage educational materials to be made widely available.

Countries have enacted laws and policies that guarantee access to this information and often disseminate it in cooperation with NGOs, multinational organizations, and local secular and religious leaders. These cooperative efforts may be difficult to achieve in some countries or regions due to...