you know HIV; that virus that hijacks white blood cells, leads to AIDS and then TB or pneumonia and... you know someone who has died.now you’re against it, fighting it, battling it. 'women against AIDS', 'fashion against AIDS', ‘global fight against AIDS’, ‘combat the epidemic’, ‘stop AIDS campaign’, ‘unite against AIDS’... but now you’re HIV positive. are people against you? fighting you? excluding you? how do all these campaigns make you feel?
‘The language we use to conceptualise and talk about HIV/AIDS reflects our personal biases and understanding or lack of understanding. It also helps shape our own and others’ attitudes about HIV/AIDS.’
UNESCO says… ‘although this phrase ‘fight against HIV / AIDS’ is widely used, it is considered militaristic and stigmatising vocabulary that may lead to the thinking that people living with HIV have to be ‘fought’ or eliminated. similarly to the words ‘fight’ and ‘war’, combatant language (e.g., struggle, battle, campaign) should be avoided when referring to a response to HIV and AIDS.’
HIV is in the people all around us, and maybe one day in our own blood. are you going to stand like king canute on the shore ordering the tide back, or are you going to learn how to live with the waves. accept HIV, embrace the situation. people with HIV need to be getting information and accessing treatment. people without HIV need to be exercising preventive measures. nothing more, nothing less. next time you’re naming an NGO resist the urge to be melodramatic!
UNESCO Guidelines on Language and Content in HIV- and AIDS - Related Materials http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001447/144725e.pdf
The Power of Language, You and AIDS, the HIV/AIDS Portal for Asia Pacific (UNDP) http://www.youandaids.org/HIVAIDS%20Language
THE FACE OF US
ReplyDeleteBlack face, brown face, white face
African, oriental, Caucasian, whole human race
The color of our blood is red
The wine on which this creature is fed
With every sunrise rise our million hopes
With the sunsets we bury a million souls
On the streets we point fingers and stigmatize
While it divides and hearts it traumatizes
AIDS lives in my family and my neighbours
In strangers, leaders, my peers and my followers
When in anger, fear, self righteousness I strike out
To my horror I realise I have stabbed those I love
I realise the blade has cut my own throat and I'm dying
For AIDS wears a human face
It is the face of you and I
8th December 2005
Wisdom