Striking a balance

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.

 

In a context where HIV is now a manageable albeit chronic condition, personal good news stories around positive heroes often feature in the media. And while these vignettes do have the potential to address stigma through normalising HIV (especially when they are backed by serious star-power, the media should ensure that that these personal stories are covered in such a way that they do not give people the impression that living with HIV is easy.

 

It was this very situation that Stop AIDS set out to tackle through their controversial ‘HIV is no picnic’ campaign in San Francisco in the early 2000s. The campaign was based on the finding that gay men no longer perceived HIV to be a life-threatening illness and that this resulted in an increase in risky sex.

The ads featured a host of uncomfortable side effects that could result from taking ARVs, illustrating that while ARVs are essential for health and survival, their possible side effects are just one of the hurdles that HIV-positive people face.

Ultimately the ads conveyed the message that it is OK to be HIV-positive but it is preferable to maintain an HIV-negative status. And while the campaign has many of its own drawbacks-such as potentially discouraging people from taking what we know are life-saving ARVs- it illustrates that the threat of people perceiving HIV as a non-event and therefore putting themselves at increased risk is a possibility.

 

Trivialising the more everyday issues that people living with HIV face also has negative consequences for people already living with HIV. If important issues like adherence, or the side effects ARVs are left unexplored, these are in danger of being overlooked and remaining unaddressed.

When covering personal stories of people living with HIV the media should endeavor to address stigma and discrimination wherever they find it, but stories should also be balanced. This involves giving as close an account as possible of what living with HIV is like by including the good and the not-so-good aspects.