Information: A peripheral in the battle against HIV/AIDS

By Bryan Mari J. Argos

Recently, this writer, as part of the completion of the requirements for the degree of Masters in the Professional Studies of Development Communication at the University of the Philippines–Open University, conducted a study entitled, “Evaluation Of The Roxas City AIDS/HIV Council (Rocac) Information Dissemination Campaign (IDC) In Addressing The Lack Of Awareness About HIV/AIDS Among Sex Workers In Roxas City”. The study sought to determine whether the ROCAC-IDC has been successful in effecting an increase in knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS among the city's sex workers who were the target recipients; and if such an increase in knowledge, has in turn, resulted in a change in practice and attitude among the target recipients.

For the study, there were 149 commercial sex workers who have been subjects of the ROCAC-IDC two years ago as respondents. The study used the survey research design in the collection of data and qualitatively analyzed the data to come up with the research findings.

Indispensable Information

During the study, this writer pointed out the vital role of information in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. As pointed out in literature used in the study, there is currently no known cure or vaccination for the dreaded HIV/AIDS. The best weapon against the spread of the disease is prevention through information dissemination.

A huge percentage of the world's population contract HIV/AIDS every year; this phenomenon is not just limited to other countries outside of the country because in the early 1980s the disease has entered domestic shores. Since then, the disease has spread to various parts of the country, including Western Visayas and Roxas City. Although Western Visayas currently holds a meager percentage of persons with AIDS (PWAs) in comparison to other regional areas all over the world, there is still no confirmation that this small percentage is enough for us to be confident that our region will be free of the disease. There is a steady increase of PWAs in the Region every year, as well as in rising cities in the region, to include the City of Roxas.

It is this alarming situation that should serve as a wake up call for all of us to prepare ourselves against the disease. We should all equip ourselves with the necessary knowledge needed to protect ourselves and our families from the disease. While we are all called to action by the growing number of HIV cases in our region, we should first measure priorities.

In this study, the registered sex workers of the City of Roxas were the initial targets of the information dissemination campaign conducted by the ROCAC on the basis that they are the ones who are at the highest risk of contracting the disease and passing the disease on to unsuspecting clients. The IDC was conducted to equip them with the knowledge necessary in eliciting a change in practice and attitude leading to a better capacity to protect themselves, as well as their clients from the disease. This concept is built on the desperate truth that there is still no known cure or vaccine for the disease, hence the best way to prevent it is to use information to orient people of ways of keeping it from entering their systems and consequently passing it on to other people.

Success Story

As shown in the results of the study, the ROCAC-IDC has successfully equipped its target recipients with the knowledge necessary to change their attitude and practice in preventing the spread of the disease. A staggering 100% of all the respondents subjected to the study exhibited some degree of increase of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDSs. Of the 100% who have had an increase in their HIV/AIDS knowledge store, 91.66% showed a leaning towards advocating practices and attitudes that are medically known to prevent the disease from spreading.

This shows that an information dissemination campaign can truly be an effective peripheral in our battle against HIV/AIDS if used effectively and properly. The ROCAC has designed their IDC materials with their target recipients in mind and has conducted the IDC in such manner that least resistance from the target recipients would be encountered.

While it is not within the scope of this study to parallelize the increase in knowledge and the change in attitude and practice among target recipients with a decline in the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the City of Roxas for the past two years, it was pointed out in the study that other studies have proven that the effect of the systematic use of information to influence society cannot be belittled. One such project mentioned in the study is the “Tuklas-Yaman Community Capability Building Exercise”. As this study has proven that information can indeed influence target recipients in terms of knowledge, attitude, and practice, our region is faced with the challenge of replicating the advocacy campaign of the Roxas City AIDS Council and achieving the same results among target recipients.

The Future

Where does this study put us now, in our battle with the dreaded HIV/AIDS? For more than two decades, international research and medical institutions have been spending millions of dollars in projects aimed at formulating a vaccine or even a cure for HIV/AIDS. However, while research in that particular field is undeniably sluggish, all we can do at the moment is turn towards an age-old maxim to keep us vigilant in our fight against HIV/AIDS, “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.”

While we patiently wait for the grey clouds covering HIV/AIDS research to clear, we are all caught wanting of an effective means of protecting ourselves and our families from the disease. In this grid lock that we are all in at the moment, let us turn to the ROCAC example in defending ourselves from HIV/AIDS. Perhaps, while we can still validate the truth in the above maxim, let us content ourselves with this creative version at the moment, “An ounce of prevention resulting from a rich knowledge store coupled with a change in attitude and practice is better than a pound of cure.”

For information on how to acquire the complete manuscript of the above study, contact the author at (0920) 9254269.