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Increased Support for Antiretroviral Treatment in South Africa Needed Media Should Combat Myths, Opinion Piece Says
Medical News Today
2005-03-18
Antiretroviral treatment has been tested and used with success and has the support of all major medical organizations and most governments -- including South Africa's -- despite the criticism and myths surrounding the medications, Neva Makgetla, a... Congress of South African Trade Unions economist, writes in an opinion piece in South Africa's Business Day.
The persistence of denialism and propaganda against
antiretrovirals exists in the media and in people's approach to the drugs,
Makgetla says. The media should point out where inputs -- such as
letters to editors, opinion pieces and articles -- misrepresent known
facts about antiretroviral treatment, Makgetla writes. Otherwise, if an
HIV-positive person on antiretroviral drugs stops treatment because of
information in a newspaper, the media has a hand in hastening their
death, Makgetla says. If antiretrovirals gained more widespread support in
South Africa and other developing nations, HIV/AIDS would be treated as a
chronic condition, not a fatal disease, which would help reduce the stigma
surrounding the disease, according to Makgetla. More acceptance of the treatment also would provide people with an incentive to get tested, which
might help to slow the spread of HIV and lessen the burden of fear and pain for HIV-positive individuals and their families, Makgetla concludes.
Related links:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hiv.cfm
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=BD4A27244
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