Mass media not truthful about AIDS: Experts
Mass media not truthful about AIDS: Experts
JAKARTA (JP): Most media reports about AIDS fail to give all the facts which the public is entitled to know about, distorting public perception about the syndrome and the related virus, experts said during a dialog on Saturday.
Most media reports tend to overplay the dangers of AIDS to the point of frightening their audience and readers, Zubairi Djoerban, of the Jakarta Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, said.
"Frightening people about HIV and AIDS will have a long lasting impact," Zubairi said. "It will make people reluctant to study or learn more about AIDS," he added.
Sjamsuridjal Djauri, a general practitioner who handles AIDS cases, deplored the negative way the media depicts people with the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus .
"Is it fair to give them a negative label? Some of them got the virus by accident, from blood transfusion, from their works such as doctors, and many other causes," he said.
He warned that such negative reporting about people with AIDS and HIV would discourage them from joining the various campaigns organized to prevent the spread of the virus.
"Their involvement is very important," he added.
The discussion, organized jointly by the Pelita Ilmu Foundation and the Ford Foundation office in Jakarta, took a critical view at the way the media in Indonesia reports on AIDS and HIV cases. Held at the Jakarta Islamic Hospital, it featured noted Moslem scholar Amien Rais, AIDS consultant Runizar Roesin and Dachroni of the Ministry of Health.
Most of the criticism against the media reports on AIDS however came from the floor.
Adi Sasongko of the Kusuma Buana Foundation said most media reports tend to focus their coverage of AIDS and HIV cases on particular aspects only. Readers, he said, should be given the complete picture of AIDS.
Citing an example, he said one newspaper withheld information about the effectiveness of condoms, and told its readers that the only way to prevent the spread of HIV is through a religious approach.
"I know there's a lot of controversy about the use of condoms, but it doesn't mean that we have to hide the fact that it is effective in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS," Adi said.
"If the media didn't want to write about the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, it's OK. But don't influence the public by speaking ill of condoms," he added.
The government has refused to consent to any anti-AIDS campaign which encourages the use of condoms. Religious leaders have said that a condom campaign is a sign that the government is condoning adultery and prostitution.
"The media have the obligation to inform their audiences about HIV/AIDS, no matter what their opinion on the issue is. They have to let the readers decide for themselves which information they want to use," Rosalia Sciortino of the Ford Foundation said.
"If the media fails to mention all the facts, they are obstructing the anti-AIDS campaign," she added.
Ford Foundation has organized a number of workshops about AIDS for Indonesian journalists, she said.
Minister of Health Sujudi recently said everyone has the right to obtain accurate information on how to avoid AIDS, while those already infected with the virus or those with full-blown AIDS have the right to proper medical care and nondiscriminatory treatment.
As of December, the official number of HIV-positive and AIDS cases in Indonesia was 364, with 125 cases recorded in Jakarta. (31)
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