Libraries Role in Fight Against HIV. 6/12/10

Pandemic has become the major cause of illness and death among both the young and economically active age groups in sub-Sahara Africa and in particular Zimbabwe.

AllAfrica

Debate on media coverage of HIV and Aids in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa has been both extensive and intensive but mostly centering on modes of transmission, testing, treatment, prevention, care, the need for behaviour change and more recently male circumcision and many other issues.

Despite the focus, the pandemic has become the major cause of illness and death among both the young and economically active age groups in sub-Sahara Africa and in particular Zimbabwe.

The theme for World Aids Day 2010 is "Universal Access and Human Rights". In this regard, global leaders have pledged to work towards universal access to HIV and Aids treatment, prevention and care, recognising these as fundamental human rights. In Zimbabwe, valuable progress has been made in increasing access to HIV and Aids services.

Although access to antiretroviral therapy has improved in the country, many people do not have access to adequate information services. As such deficiency in the information dissemination processes has been cited as one of the major causes to continued spread of the pandemic.

Increasingly, there is a need to gather and disseminate information through a variety of outlets. Apparently libraries in Zimbabwe have not been actively and collectively involved in this campaign despite the potential and skills readily available in these institutions. Little is heard about the use of information and libraries in the fight against the pandemic.

Policies are being developed in many African countries focusing on Information, Education and Communication (IEC) strategies as a means of prevention but are silent on the role of libraries in the dissemination of HIV and Aids information. For instance no national HIV and Aids policy supports direct library participation in HIV and Aids information activities.

In actual fact there is no reference to libraries in any of the sectoral policies on these issues. As such dissemination of HIV and Aids information is taking place without library involvement. And yet achievement of MDGs is about awareness and intervention by all stakeholders.

In Zimbabwe, radio and television services are a major source of information to the majority of listeners and viewers in urban areas and most growth points. Using mass media techniques provides the impetus for other activities.

The strength of the mass media lie in helping to put issues on the public agenda, in reinforcing local efforts, in raising consciousness about health issues and in conveying simple information.

Furthermore, these approaches to health promotion, intend to reach the general population through television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, leaflets and many more. There is some debate on the cost-effectiveness of such approaches in prevention. It is certainly true that in some cases the use of the mass media may be less effective and need to be complemented by libraries.

If current prevention efforts can be scaled up, sustained public library services need to be included in the process to avert a widespread epidemic. Libraries are significant agents in meeting the demands for HIV and Aids material and developing consumer health information literacy.

They have important roles to play in the provision of health information and developing consumer health information literacy. People see libraries as familiar, accessible and as a reliable source of information.

It is logical that public libraries should take a lead in developing partnerships and networks with medical libraries to ensure that access to HIV and Aids information is readily accessible across the country and share the expertise for the benefit of the community.

As trusted public institutions for the dissemination of information, public libraries can continue to play an important role in promoting public health information surrounding HIV and Aids prevention and education.

In their trusted and empowering role as the "free university" of the public, public libraries have always held a pivotal role in the education of communities.

They are uniquely positioned, through long-established policies of providing information services at no or low cost, to help people build their information assets about HIV and Aids and especially in reaching out to the public and the poor for whom information may be the only weapon to defend themselves against infection.

In this view, public libraries as public institutions levels the playing field by providing equal access to its resources to all members of the community, regardless of income, class, creed, political affiliation or gender.

People need to know how to protect themselves; they need to know where to get means of prevention, testing, treatment and other essential services. Libraries can thus make a difference in fighting the pandemic by taking a lead role at the community level to spread life-saving information. It is thus the professional duty of librarians to offer appropriate information for those in need.

Libraries, by the nature of their information business, can provide the missing link and make a meaningful contribution to the fight against Aids. They can contribute to the effectiveness of current efforts in the information campaign against HIV and Aids by making available a variety of usable information resources.

Access to information is one of the core services Libraries and Information Centres have rendered to communities for as long as they have existed.

As such, the notion of user-centred services has never been more pronounced than now as these institutions struggle to justify their existence and render themselves relevant to communities they serve. In this view, quality health information more than any other strategy holds the key to the success of the war against HIV/Aids. Active librarianship is thus necessary to reach out to populations in high-risk situations.

A study carried out by the National Council on Library and Information Services (NCLIS) on new roles for libraries in HIV and Aids information dissemination in Africa makes three main recommendations:

Libraries' role in disseminating HIV and Aids information is strongest when they establish partnerships with other organisations already involved in dissemination and education activities.

Libraries in Africa should expand the scope of information resources they collect and distribute to include, sources outside the role of traditional libraries, taking a leadership role in using ICTs for sharing digital materials, and providing information in formats that are accessible and interesting to children and young adults who are making decisions about their own sexual behaviour.

As gatekeepers of information, Libraries and Resource Centres can play a central role in disseminating HIV and Aids information.

From this vantage point, it is important to reiterate that information has to be readily available to all communities because it is an input, which reduces the level of uncertainty in any decision making process. It is a crucial factor for a healthy life.

Access to quality health information is critical to many facets of health care and delivery. As such the role of information for People Living with HIV and Aids (PLWHA) cannot be ignored.

As such, libraries provide practical information that can be used to facilitate development of information literacy, health literacy, consumer health information literacy and above all Aids Information Literacy.

Research indicates that adequate health literacy is necessary for health consumers to understand and adhere to healthcare guidelines.

Low or limited health literacy may make these people particularly vulnerable because many chronic conditions require regular appointment keeping, complex ongoing medications, adjustment in behaviour and activities as part of disease management, and specific knowledge about the condition.

Further, the Committee on Health Literacy of the Institute of Medicine wrote: Health literacy is of concern to everyone involved in health promotion and protection, disease prevention and early screening, health care maintenance, and policy making. As such addressing limited health literacy, perhaps, requires health communicators to employ all the available means of persuasion to support the provision of the right information available at the right time with the support people need to use it to make appropriate health decisions.

Finally, as we commemorated World Aids Day 2010 on 1 December, it is incumbent upon all of us to consider the health literacy level in the development of health campaigns, messages, health professional relationships and in the communication of health policy and moral imperatives of the 21st Century.

Dr Tafataona Mahoso in his article "HIV, Aids, racist fear of African Unity" Sunday Mail, November 14-20, 2010 says "there is -- need for a different approach to Zimbabwe's struggle against HIV and Aids". In this struggle we should not lose the centrality of the struggle of ideas and the library as the engine or centre of ideas of struggle.

An effective dissemination of information therefore needs the expansion of funds into the information dissemination process.

Extensive support of both public and school libraries is one major strategy to ensure that information and knowledge are used effectively, shared and made accessible to a diverse audience. As such a vibrant public library system is a key weapon in the battle against HIV and Aids.