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December 2011

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5 December 2011—HIV News Update.

Featured:

  • DA launches campaign coercion: The Democratic Alliance (DA) most recent HIV testing campaign blatantly ignores the ethical principle of informed consent, preying on and coercing socio-economically vulnerable South Africans.
  • Government unveils latest NSP: Much of the post-World AIDS Day Media coverage was dedicated to the new National Strategic Plan on HIV, TB and STIs 2012-2016. Media reports have focused on the main goals, key interventions and the whopping R130-billion budget laid out in the plan.
  • The Times jumps the gun on microbicides: In its coverage of the recent discontinuation of the VOICE microbicide gel trial, The Times gives the impression that all tragically is lost when it comes to microbicide gels as a whole. However, a quick look at other more considered news reports reveals that The Times may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.
  • Beating the World AIDS Day DRUM: DRUM magazine has published an impressive spread to mark World AIDS Day, featuring the stories of various South Africans living with and affected by HIV.
  • Striking a balance: Normalisation vs trivialisation of HIV: Given the advances in treatment and the proliferation of stories on ‘positive' role models, the media should be aware of the delicate balance between addressing stigma that people living with HIV often experience and trivialising HIV as a condition.
  • Surviving the holidays in safe-sex style means HIV mentions are a must: This week the Sowetan featured an article detailing how to survive the festive season safe-sex-style.
  • Global fund financial crisis and excuses! The Global Fund to Fight AIDS TB and Malaria finds itself in quite the jam, as it apparently faces imminent cuts in funding.
In the news:
  • Sowetan World AIDS Day coverage
  • The Citizen World AIDS Day coverage
  • The Star World AIDS Day coverage
  • The Mail&Guardian World AIDS Day coverage
  • The Times World AIDS Day coverage
  • The New Age World AIDS Day coverage
  • SANDF evaluates its HIV-Aids programme (TNA)

 

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The project is jointly managed by the Anova Health Institute and the Journalism and Media Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand, and supported by the Health Communication Partnership based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Centre for Communication Programmes and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief through the United States Agency for International Development under terms of Award No. JH/HESA-02-05.

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