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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