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Cause and effect

Do celebrities help a cause, asks Nandini Nair on the eve of World AIDS Day

PHOTO: PTI

FIGURE OF SPEECH AIDS awareness is on the rise but is it reflecting in a behavioural change?

When the red ribbon marks the calendar a mass reckoning with AIDS occurs. Many people might view this as trendy rather than concerted concern. But December 1 is simply a day, which reinforces the message, "Stop AIDS. Keep the promise."

While views are divergent about the general extent of awareness of HIV and its transmission, the media has brought AIDS into drawing rooms and forced it into the public consciousness. As of August 31, the National AIDS Control Programme (NACO) accounted for 2759 cases of AIDS in Delhi. J.P. Kapoor, Project Director, Delhi State AIDS Control Society, says however that the HIV cases are as high as 78,000 approximately.

There's a general consensus that celebrities attract attention to a cause. That's the principle behind a programme like Haath se Haath Mila. Anu Malhotra, Creative Head of the programme, says, "It's a celebrity conscious world, nothing works without that."

The serial is unique as it brings together a "Yuva star" with a celebrity. "Yuva stars" are young leaders who have made a difference. Asked if celebrities make a difference, Malhotra says, "A yuva star Hassena, told us that it took her a year to convince paan wallahs to stock condoms, whereas after Fardeen Khan's visit, 30 of them volunteered to stock condoms themselves." She believes, "Using celebrities in the right way is a potent way of getting the message across." When Priyanka Chopra or Bipasha Basu hugs an HIV positive person it sends out a positive message to the youth.

Crime-fighting hero

"Jasoos Vijay" is a pioneering programme created through a partnership between the BBC World Service Trust, Doordarshan and NACO. It weaves AIDS-related issues into a detective serial. The Trust's India Director, Andrew Whitehead, says that messaging on AIDS occurs at three levels through the programme. The plot and dialogue deal with AIDS, the protagonist Detective Vijay is successful, married, inspiring and also HIV positive. And an interactive session with Om Puri allows viewers not only a chance to crack the mystery but also to discuss AIDS issues. Dubbed into various regional languages Whitehead says the serial reaches 30 million viewers weekly. Whitehead doesn't believe that media attention to the issue is limited to World AIDS Day. He clarifies, "World AIDS Day is a focus, but there's a lot more interest... in print, broadcast, radio and advertisements. A message becomes powerful through repetition, and celebrities are crucial in drawing attention. He explains, "Celebrities in all cultures are powerful platforms for messaging, especially in India with the power of the movie industry and sports."

Kapoor of DSCAS points out, "The media plays a very important role in advocacy and in removing stigma. Positive reporting is very important." An official of UNAIDS reiterates, "When celebrities talk, people listen." Despite the spread of the message, the official however clarifies, "There's a huge gap between awareness and knowledge. While people might have heard about HIV, it's not been translated into a behavioural change."

Still a gap

Whitehead supports this view: "People know they should protect themselves with a condom, but they don't. It's like smoking, people know it's bad, but that doesn't stop people."

Interestingly, Nafisa Ali, the founder of an HIV Care Home differs on media coverage of the issue. "The media is looking only for celebrity endorsements and is not interested in the cause. They are interested only in figures and concentrate on the negative stories, instead of focusing on the positive ones."

This year, it's been twenty years since the first HIV case was documented in Chennai. Today, India has among the highest number of persons living with HIV/AIDS in the world, although the overall prevalence remains low. The promise is clearly not being kept.

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