Germans are dissatisfied with AIDS education

45 percent are dissatisfied with HIV education

07/10/2012

Many people consider the education in Germany about the HI virus and the immunodeficiency disease AIDS to be inadequate. Almost half of the Germans said they were poorly informed. This was the result of a poll conducted by opinion research institute „YouGov“. In recent years, spending on awareness campaigns has fallen slightly. In the meantime, the HIV incidence rate has risen slightly.

45 percent are dissatisfied with HIV education
The anti-AIDS campaign started just over 25 years ago „Give AIDS no chance“. To make the work of the campaign measurable, the opinion institute started „YouGov“ a survey study commissioned by the Federal Institute for Health Education. Around 45 percent of Germans said in the survey that they are dissatisfied with the current information work. They consider the public relations work not sufficient enough. „I would never say that we are already at the end of all reconnaissance strategies because there are obviously people we have not achieved well enough yet“, commented Elisabeth Pott, Director of the Federal Center for Health Education (BzgA), the survey result. After all, a good 86 percent of Germans protect themselves in adulthood with a condom before the viral infectious disease, which is still not curable. However, according to Pott, this means that about 14 percent of adults do not adequately protect themselves from the danger with a condom.

Less money for anti-AIDS education campaigns
Less and less money gets the initiatives of the state in hand to initiate campaigns. In order nevertheless to provide for an adequate spreading, the Enlightenment set on new investors and the InterNet. „Since the late 1990s, funding has been cut ever further“, complains Pott. As a result, the Federal Center for Health Education could not reach as many people as it had previously. It is also striking that the number of new cases with the virus then increased slightly again. However, initiatives could „to stabilize the rate of new infections through new ways“.

No TV spots in prime time but more Internet
Ten to 20 years ago, TV sports were switched to prime time television and cinema, but today's money is barely enough. „This enlightenment track we no longer have today“, says Pott. To create a balance, the BzgA is now more on the Internet. So can „Of course, in principle, the impression arises that it would not be cleared up as much as it used to.“

For example, the center launched a weekly newsletter, the contents of which, for example, deals with the topic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Thus, the reorientation and significance of STI prevention within AIDS education is reported. „Sexually transmitted infections can increase the risk of HIV infection by two to ten times“, said in the first issue.

73,000 people are infected with HIV
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin, today around 73,000 people in Germany are infected with HI virus. In 2011, 2700 new infections were added and about 500 patients died of the secondary disease AIDS. There is also a relative number of unreported cases of people who do not know anything about their infection. Although medicines today can increasingly relieve the suffering of people and provide for a longer life expectancy, however, the HIV virus increasingly destroys the immune system in several stages. As a result, the body's defense system from the outside penetrating pathogens no longer ward off enough. (Sb)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann