"AIDS comes from unhealthy relationships..." - BBC response

As you may recall, one of my earlier posts, concerned the media portrayal of HIV and AIDS.

In my previous post, I referenced a comment made on the BBC The Big Questions programme.

I was angry that the comments made went unchallenged.

Here is what the BBC had to say, in reply to my complaint:

"Thank you for contacting us regarding 'The Big Questions', broadcast on 17 March on BBC One.
We understand you were offended by a remark made by an audience member during the programme in relation to AIDS, which you felt went unchallenged by the presenter, Nicky Campbell.
Whilst we fully appreciate your concern, having reviewed the programme, we feel Nicky did challenge the audience member about his statement. I've transcribed the relevant part of the conversation below:
Audience Member: “When God laid down the Ten Commandments, 'thou shalt not', all the time he didn’t do it to try and oppress us, he did it for good reason, like AIDS, for things like that. Now it says in the Bible.....”
Nicky Campbell: "Like what?"
Audience Member: "Like getting AIDS, AIDS culture from unhealthy relationships and things."
Nicky Campbell: "Heterosexual people get AIDS too."
Audience Member: "Well yes..."
Nicky Campbell: "But what?"
Audience Member: "The thing about it, what I am trying to say, a man should be with a woman, okay? What I see there are gay people and lesbian people..."
Nicky Campbell: "But Syphilis and Gonorrhoea and all that...."
Therefore, as you have rightly pointed out, Nicky was making the same point to the audience member in question by clarifying that it isn't only gay or lesbian people who can get AIDS (i.e. HIV which can progress into AIDS).
However, we appreciate how strongly you feel on this matter and we're guided by our audience feedback, so we’d like to assure you that your complaint has been registered on our audience log. This is an internal report of audience feedback that we compile on a daily basis and it’s made available to 'The Big Questions', channel executives and senior management.
The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.
Thanks once again for taking the time to contact us."

It remains important that where there is a negative portrayal of HIV or AIDS in the media that this is challenged.

I do not agree that the BBC, on this occasion, made that challenge.

It looked as though the presenter of the programme wanted to encourage further comment from this particular audience member.

Unfortunately, the link to HIV and AIDS in relation to sexual orientation, be it straight, gay or bisexual, was never properly challenged.

HIV transmission

• HIV can be transmitted through body fluid - blood, semen and vaginal fluid

• It can also be transmitted through the shared use of intravenous needles or the use of contaminated needles

• It can also be transmitted through breast milk.

It is time to separate sexual orientation from HIV,

There are several ways of transmitting HIV; sexual orientation is not a source of transmission of HIV

Greater awareness is required

What is important, is that everyone is aware of how HIV infection can be transmitted and the steps that can be taken to prevent transmission.

If there was a greater understanding of how HIV can be transmitted, then the old stereotypical assumptions, equating sexual orientation to the spreading of disease, would begin to fade away.

"Cut services for women, increase services for men..".

A new political party has been launched in the UK which plans to stand candidates across the United Kingdom in the next General Election.  

The political party is called Justice for Men and Boys (and the Women who love them)

On a radio debate on the BBC's Call Kaye Programme, broadcast on Monday 18 March 2013, the party's founder, Mike Buchanan, advocated, amongst other things cutting services aimed at women, because men contribute more tax revenue to the UK Exchequer than they do. 

There is merit in highlighting any form of gender inequality where it exists.

I doubt anyone would disagree on this salient point.

On the tax revenue issue, it is important to highlight that the majority of part time workers are women, that women still receive only 75% of the pay of male comparators and that women are still under represented in the boardroom.

No surprise that the majority of tax generated comes from men then, eh?

I believe that the approach taken here, and the policies being espoused by this new political party, are ultimately counter intuitive.

Men deserve more, women less

The key mantra put forward seems to be that men deserve the support more so than women.

By setting each of the sexes against one another like this, the approach, in my view, is counter intuitive for the following reasons;

• The approach taken works against the cause of campaigning for greater awareness of the inequalities which do exist between both men and women in the law, politics and social policy

• It is too simplistic because throwing money at a particular problem, may not necessarily, address that problem and fails to actually examine and address the under lying reason for the inequality in the first place.    

• By demanding resources are taken away from another group, to support your cause, there is a real risk of alienating allies and losing the argument. 

I wish to make clear from the outset that I do not subscribe to, nor support, the key political mantra of Justice for Men and Boys - I do not believe in removing support from women for the sake of it.

Health inequalities

The Following information is taken from the Men's Health Forum; which bases its information on statistics available from the Office of National Statistics.

  
It is important to note that rates of mental ill health between men and women are roughly equal.

Cause for concern

The illustrations given above are shocking.  They should, quite rightly, give any policy maker cause for concern.

However, what has caused, or continues to cause, such statistical inequality?

There is a range of sociological commentary on the subject.

Some of the reasons highlight,

• the level of risk taking behaviour in young men, 
• the rate of engagement with health care professionals by men - spotting a problem too late for instance.  
• that men lack the basic health education to look after themselves properly.    

If you look at these reasons, it is unlikely that taking money away from support services for women and diverting those resources into support services for men will make an automatic difference.

Multi faceted problems

If you set up a men only service, how can you be certain that men will use that service, if you are already aware that there is a problem of engagement?

Similarly, how do you address risk taking behaviours?  Or re-educate men to know that going to their GP regularly is important?

The Equality Act

There is an obligation on the National Health Service to promote equality of opportunity, to eliminate unlawful discrimination and to foster good relations.  This is referred to as the Public Sector Equality Duty.

This important legal obligation is made up of "general duty" described above and a series of "specific duties", designed to give teeth to the general duty.

The general duty applied across Great Britain and there are different specific duties for UK wide public authorities and for Public Authorities exclusively working in Scotland and Wales.

The NHS is also required not to discriminate as a service provider, as an educator or as an employer.

It is clear that there is a legal obligation on the NHS and any other public service provider to tackle health inequalities.

It would be interesting to see, on a health board by health board basis, what is actually being done to address men's health and the particular inequalities highlighted above.

Current work

There are a number of efforts already under way to look at these particular problems.  One such approach, is to encourage men to attend "well men" clinics, changing the culture of engagement and education by encouraging male role models, such as footballers, to take a lead.

Tackle the inequalities

It is important that the health inequalities between men and women are addressed.

However, the view of Justice for Men and Boys, involves taking a sledge hammer to an identified problem and hoping that by smashing it to pieces, it will some how make it right.

Here is what the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) had to say about suicide rates and men:

You can find out more about Twotoomany by clicking this link.

"Getting AIDS comes from unhealthy relationships"

On BBC The Big Questions, aired on Sunday 17 March 2013, a religious audience member stated live on BBC TV that "getting AIDS comes from unhealthy relationships".  He went on to reference Gay men and Lesbians.  

The Presenter of the the programme did not robustly challenge him concerning this contribution.  

It can be difficult on a live television discussion programme to ensure that audience participants in the show avoid making derogatory  offensive or prejudicial remarks.

However, the BBC must set some standards for its television presenters and audience participants, even if the show is the topic of Christianity and Modernity.

My primary objection to this particular contribution, is that it was allowed to go unchallenged.

The Presenter moved quickly onto the next contribution and encouraged the audience member to elaborate on his contribution.

Because of the show's religious element, the BBC permitted this particular contribution to be broadcast and also to go unchallenged.

The BBC knew, or ought to have known, that this contribution was both stigmatising and inaccurate.

Two resounding questions for the BBC

Why is it that linking someone's sexual orientation to the spread of AIDS makes acceptable Sunday morning television?

Why is sexual orientation always viewed as a moral issue, inevitably linked to sex and then promiscuity?

History repeating itself?

The comment referencing AIDS to being Gay reminded me of the ill-informed, offensive and "hate" campaigns that featured throughout the 1980s.

At this time, a series of national adverts were being run by the UK Government to make the public aware of HIV / AIDS.  However, the reactionary media, were more focused on linking AIDS to being Gay and being Gay to spreading disease - this is where AIDS got its first name - The Gay Plague.

Call to be vigilant

Has nothing changed?  Or is this just a one off example, of an ill-conceived, off the cuff comment, made to promote the virtues of a religious celibate life?

I would like to think that this is the case.

However, it does go to show that we must all be vigilant.  Public opinion and with it, government and legislative policy can be easily swayed by both positive and negative media portrayal.

"Stories in the media can have a positive effect in increasing people's awareness of HIV and what it means to live with HIV. However media reports about HIV are often stigmatising or inaccurate. Many stories contribute to a culture of blame about HIV transmission, focusing on so-called irresponsible sexual activity, use judgemental language and stereotype people living with HIV."

People who are either HIV positive or who have AIDS already face discrimination and stigma.

We must do all that we can to address this problem and to challenge those, particularly in the media, who would like to see us revisit recent history.

 The episode of The Big Questions is available on iPlayer by clicking here.  It is available for the next 7 days from today.  The Contribution in question was made approximately 28 minutes into the programme.  

I have made a complaint to the BBC.

If you wish to complain too, you can do so by following this link:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/