Workshops
Broadcasting and Health
Organized by World Health Organization
12 December 2003
How can broadcasters tackle the core health issues that impact on every aspect of a country's
social fabric - economic, educational, political - in a socially responsible as well as commercially
beneficial way?
Content
Programme
1. Health and drama
Moderator:
-
Ary Rogerio Silva, Pan American Health Organization
Panel:
- David Andrews, population Communication International
- Nora Mazziotti, Pan American Health Organization
2. AIDS and broadcasting
Moderator:
-
Loretta Hieber Girardet, WHO
Panel:
-
James Deane, Panos
-
Mahesh Mahalingam, UNAIDS
-
Taiwo Allimi, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria
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Report
The WHO-sponsored workshop on Health and Broadcasting was designed to highlight the important link between the media and health. The workshop was divided into two sessions. The first focused on health and drama, and promoted the concept that entertainment is a great way of reaching audiences with important health information. The second session considered the role of broadcasting in tackling the world’s global HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The first session was moderated by Ary Rogerio SILVA from the Pan American Health Organization. Latin America is the birthplace of telenovelas - a popular form of television in which a story is told over an extended amount of time. Evidence shows that they are a powerful tool for health promotion because the audience develops a strong identification with telenovela characters, and may subsequently adopt desirable behaviour, modelled by the characters.
According to workshop panellist Nora MAZZIOTTI, an Argentine specialist in telenovelas and behaviour change, this form of entertainment works well with health messages because it appeals to emotions. In Brazil, recent telenovelas have dealt with organ donation, missing children, drug addiction, condom use, unplanned pregnancy, alcoholism, homosexuality and a range of other issues during the last ten years. The short-term impact of telenovelas on health has been well documented. For example, when the series Lazos de Familia developed a story line on leukemia, the national registry of donors of bone marrow reported an average of 20 new registrations per month throughout the broadcasting of the telenovela.
But telenovelas can also be problematic. For example, portraying an individual with a disease such as an STD, or HIV/AIDS, as a negative character can lead to an increase in stigma. Therefore, it is important that health officials work closely with drama writers and producers to ensure that the health messages promoted during entertainment programs have a positive impact on the society.
A second panelist in this session, David ANDREWS, from Population Communication International, also acknowledged serial drama as a powerful tool for health. PCI has developed a methodology that highlights formative research. Working with local partners and adapt to the local context is crucial, according to Mr. Andrews. With an example from India, he demonstrated what he called “360 degree social marketing”. With a soap opera as basis, a comprehensive communication vehicle was created to support the main health message. The vehicle included public service announcements, comic strips, street theatre, ad campaigns and billboards and music events. These various communication tools reinforced the soap opera and led to a clearly, measurable impact.
Research and evaluation are crucial for demonstrating the usefulness of drama as a health promotion tool. Many studies have been done by now, showing the dramatic differences between attitudes, behavior and knowledge in broadcast areas and non-exposed areas. But to date much of the research has been focused on short term impact. The long term effect has not yet been studied to the same extent.
During the second session, the role of media in the global HIV/AIDS pandemic was explored. What has been the role of media in the failure to meet the challenges of HIV/AIDS? What possible partnerships could there be between the health community and the media? These were the questions posed by moderator Loretta HIEBER GIRARDET of WHO.
James DEANE, director of the Panos Institute, argued for the development of a long term communication strategy based on interactive dialogue with affected populations. With the pandemic so closely connected to stigma, knowledge is not enough, says Deane. “We have to start talking about communication between people, not to people,” he said. He also identified a second major issue of relevance for appropriate HIV/AIDS communication as the liberalization revolution in broadcasting, which has caused an explosion of community radio in Africa.
Panos is now starting to explore the grounds for an enabling communication environment to start a dialogue where people can make their own voices heard. James Deane warned that the international community risks wasting funds on HIV/AIDS communication if there is not a strong sense of ownership by the people concerned. There is also an increasing awareness that real change happens over time – which also takes a more long-term commitment from donors.
Mahesh MAHALINGAM, UNAIDS, stressed the complexity of the HIV/AIDS issue. Targeting the individual is not enough, he said. We need to bring about a climate change in the whole society and that is why communication efforts need to challenge society values. Mahesh Mahalingam pointed out that the most effective AIDS awareness campaigns were those that did not even mention the word AIDS but addressed gender relations, male sexual behaviour, domestic violence etc.
He also announced that UNAIDS has launched a global media-AIDS initiative, to explore best practices within international and non-governmental organizations. Among his suggestions were to make HIV/AIDS communication material copyright free and to make a pool of material to share creative ideas.
Taiwo ALLIMI, Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria, stressed the need for new strategies, based on local knowledge and involving culture, religion and ethnicity. One way to do this would be to design HIV/AIDS messages in collaboration with broadcasters. He argued that strategies should not be limited to radio and television, but also focus on traditional channels such as the village council. Taiwo Allimi argued for the creation of a broadcasting health charter in countries that commit broadcasters to regular and sustained programming on aids. He also supported the development of a funding pool for training in health broadcasting and the importance of a bottom-up approach, starting from rural areas.
The following discussion focused on donor demands to prove impact on short time. HIV/AIDS will be an issue for the next 20-30 years, James Deane pointed out. Do we have a 20-30 years communication strategy? Talking about emergency response to HIV/AIDS does not take into account the complexity of the issue. Simple solutions are very attractive but we have to see to the complexity of the issue, he said. Knowing the ABC (Abstinence, Be Faithful, Consistently use Condoms) serves nothing when you are powerless to negotiate sex.
In her concluding remarks, Loretta Hieber Girardet said that HIV/AIDS is not just a health problem. It is a society phenomenon that has to be addressed with a multi-sectorial approach, involving all players.
Notes for a Broadcasters' Action Plan
- Information about health issues in news programmes is extremely important. The fight against SARS is a perfect example, where cooperation between WHO and the media gave excellent results.
- Health promotion through fiction and entertainment programmes is also important. Serial drama can be a powerful tool for behaviour change, if proper cooperation is established between writers and health specialists.
- The challenge of HIV-AIDS requires communication involving both mainstream and community media, and implying a strong sense of ownership of the people concerned.
- Such a complex and tragic issue requires that donors commit themselves to longer term communication strategies than they do at present.
Guillaume Chenevière, Executive Director of the WEMF
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Resources
Media and HIV/AIDS
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