• AIDS communications
• What is AIDS communications?
• AIDS communication approaches
• An emerging concensus

AIDS communications

This report from Panos argues that there is an urgent need to strengthen communication approaches in HIV prevention work, and in projects aimed at increasing access to HIV testing, treatment and care. The report assesses what lessons can be learned from the successful responses to the epidemic that have been carried out in various countries. A key finding is that the best approach is to build on and strengthen local initiatives by the communities most affected by HIV. The role of development workers is to provide access to an array of communication strategies and tools, and access to the lessons learned by other communities in responding to the epidemic. Development organisations should promote and fund participatory communication approaches to creating social change.

The report points to the importance of engaging with the range and complexity of issues, such as gender, culture and poverty, that are driving the epidemic and creating barriers to accessing treatment. While supporting local initiatives, development organisations should also maintain pressure on national governments to improve public health systems and the infrastructure of social support, as well as to fighting the causes of poverty and discrimination that are contributing to the epidemic. It is also important to ensure that governments include a communication strategy in their country plans for creating universal access to HIV treatment by 2010.

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