HIV Ads to be scrutinized in 2007

HIV Ads to be scrutinized in 2007

San Francisco-based Better World Advertising was criticized last year for HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns some felt stigmatized gay men with HIV. In San Francisco, its "HIV Stops with Me" campaign featured a presumably gay man pledging for New Year's that he would not infect anyone with HIV in 2006. In October, BWA unveiled "HIV Is a Gay Disease" ads for the LA Gay and Lesbian Center.

BWA owner Les Pappas defended the ads as necessary to prevent onward HIV transmission. But AIDS activists countered that recent declining HIV and syphilis rates in San Francisco show gay men are taking care of each other. Some activists are calling for a two-year moratorium on HIV social marketing campaigns in order to determine the kinds of messages that should be developed to target the community.

HIV/AIDS campaigns are on the agenda for San Francisco's HIV Prevention Planning Council (HPPC) this spring. HPPC may discuss accountability and monitoring to ensure positive, creative, and interesting ads, said Tracey Parker, interim HIV prevention director at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Her agency's use of BWA to create the Disclosure Initiative surprised some activists for its acknowledgment of gay men's use of negotiated-risk prevention strategies.

"At one level you want to try to penetrate and grab peoples' attention," said city Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who will speak during HPPC's public comment period this month. "At times the campaigns are so harsh you turn people off."

Meanwhile, the Stop AIDS Project and the Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center have retooled their campaigns. Stop AIDS is targeting methamphetamine use, gay venues, and sexual networks. APIWC is focusing on turning deep-seated community prejudices into community support for HIV patients and gay men. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation will also avoid a "you're doing something wrong" approach and instead work on positive motivations for prevention, said Executive Director Mark Cloutier.

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Persons at risk for HIV-2 infection include:

Sex partners of a person from a country where HIV-2 is endemic (this category includes persons originally from such countries).

Sex partners of a person known to be infected with HIV-2.

Persons who received a transfusion of blood or a nonsterile injection in a country where HIV-2 is endemic.

Persons who shared needles with a person from a country where HIV-2 is endemic or with a person known to be infected with HIV-2.

Children of women who have risk factors for HIV-2 infection or who are known to be infected with HIV-2.

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