Both Medium and Message: HIV/AIDS, Information and Communication in Africa
Lisa Forman · The Knowledge Bank (The Ohio State University) · 2005
The African AIDS epidemic continues to pose severe public health and developmental problems for many African nations.A primary impediment in the fight against AIDS is a lack of information and communication about the disease.Information and communication, as well as information and communication technologies (ICT) hold vast potential to hinder the spread of the disease, as key elements of all aspects of HIVIAIDS strategies, including prevention, treatment and care and protection of human rights.They offer potential solutions to misinformation and myths, silence and denial, and stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA).They are also key to a civil society response to the epidemic, enabling advocacy, mobilization, empowerment, participation and facilitating greater accountability.The non-technological and human enablers of communication and information offer comparatively abundant resources, and the participation of PLWHA and communities are critical to the success of AIDS strategies, depending on effective information and communication.This paper broadly examines the role of information and communication in the fight against AIDS on the African continent.Part One describes the nature and scale of, and responses to, the AIDS epidemic.Part Two describes the current status of ICT across the continent.Part Three explores the use of information and communication in the fight against HIVIAIDS, describes both national and international HIV/AIDS and ICT initiatives being conducted in various African countries, and identifies challenges and opportunities for civil society.Finally, the paper identifies guiding principles and recommendations for the future.