How Do You Know What You Know?: Provocative Gay Men's HIV Prevention Campaign Launches in Ontario June 16
News Release
Toronto: May 12, 2004 --- In response to rising HIV rates among gay and bisexual men in Canada, a coalition of HIV/AIDS organizations today unveiled the “How do you know what you know?” HIV prevention campaign in Vancouver. This national campaign challenges the assumptions men make when they have sex with each other – assumptions that may increase their risk for transmitting or contracting HIV. The Ontario portion of the campaign will be showcased on Wednesday, June 16th at the Metro Central YMCA in Toronto at 7:00pm (see invitation for details).
“This campaign also addresses the urgent need to re-invigorate HIV prevention across the country” said Phillip Banks of AIDS Vancouver, the national campaign coordinator. HIV infection rates have been on the increase among gay and bisexual men. For 2002 Health Canada estimated that 40% of new HIV infections in Canada were among men who have sex with men (MSM), compared to 30% in 1996. This, according to Sarah Poirier, Senior Communications Advisor for Health Canada, is the reason why it is important to reach this target group. Here in Toronto, men who have sex with men comprised 57% of all new infections in 2001 and 61% of all new infections in 2002.
This campaign comes at an opportune time, given the recent study by Dr. Barry Adam on high risk sex among gay men as well as the upcoming release of Dr. Ted Myers’ Ontario Men’s Survey research report. “Both studies reflect a need to address assumptions in order to reduce unintended risk-taking by gay/bisexual men” explained John Maxwell, Director of Communications and Community Development of the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT).
The campaign, which uses sexy images of men and provocative text, is concentrated in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and additional communities throughout British Columbia and Ontario. For the next six months, the campaign will consist of print advertising, transit and billboard advertising, posters, postcards, condom packs and a website: www.THINK-AGAIN.ca. The mediums used will differ slightly in each area.
Originally created for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, AIDS Vancouver and its national partners then adapted the campaign to be more reflective of Canadian demographics.
The campaign is funded by Health Canada with additional local funding provided by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, AIDS Bureau; Vancouver Coastal Health; and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.
Additional funding has allowed the campaign to be extended beyond Toronto and will be visible in 16 communities throughout Ontario. To find out more about the campaign in your area, contact these participating organizations:
• Access AIDS Network (Sault Ste Marie), (705) 256-2437
• Access AIDS Network (Sudbury), (1-800) 465-2437
• AIDS Committee of Durham, (905) 576-1445
• AIDS Committee of Guelph, (519) 763-2255
• AIDS Committee of London, (519) 434-1601
• AIDS Committee of Ottawa, (613) 238-5014
• AIDS Committee of Simcoe County (Barrie), (705) 722-6778
• AIDS Committee of Windsor, (519) 973-0222
• AIDS Niagara , (905) 984-8684
• AIDS Thunder Bay, (807) 345-1516
• Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (Toronto), (416) 599-2727
• Asian Community AIDS Services (Toronto), (416) 963-4300
• Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Toronto), (416) 977 9955
• Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples (Toronto), (416) 925-2800
• HIV/AIDS Regional Services (Kingston), (613) 545-3698
• Ottawa Gay Men’s Wellness Initiative
• PARN - Your Community AIDS Resource Network (Peterborough), (705) 749-9110
• Peel HIV/AIDS Network, 905-362-2025
• Pink Triangle Services (Ottawa), (613) 820-4922
• The AIDS Network (Hamilton), (905) 528-0854
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Questions & Answers
Q.1. Why are gay men continuing to have unsafe sex?
A.1. First, we should keep in mind many gay/bisexual men do practice safer sex. This is highlighted by the Ontario Men’s Survey. However, some men do not practice safer sex consistently for many reasons. This campaign addresses one of them: the inaccurate assumptions men make about their sexual partners.
Q.2. Why is this campaign important?
A.2. This campaign is important as it breaks away from the traditional “use a condom every time” HIV prevention message. It acknowledges that safer sex is not a consistent reality for some men and attempts to address one of the reasons why this is so.
This campaign comes at a time when HIV rates are rising and there is a need to re-invigorate HIV prevention efforts.
Q.3. Why does the campaign focus on challenging assumptions?
A.3. This campaign focuses on the unspoken assumptions men make that put themselves and others at risk for transmitting or contracting HIV.
Research has revealed that gay men’s assumptions may influence their perceptions and behaviours related to practicing safer sex.
When their assumptions are correct there may be no risk of transmitting or contracting HIV. When their assumptions are incorrect, however, they may be unintentionally compromising their own health or the health of their partner.
By getting men to rethink their assumptions we are encouraging them to make informed decisions about their sexual practices.
Q.4. What does the campaign hope to achieve?
A.4. The goal of the Assumptions campaign is to bring about a decline in the number of new HIV infections in the Canadian gay male population by encouraging gay men to challenge their assumptions about the serostatus of the partners, thereby reducing the incidence of unprotected anal intercourse between sero-discordant gay men (men whose HIV status is different).
Q.5. Is the focus of the campaign the disclosure of people’s HIV status?
A.5. No. This is not a campaign about the disclosure of one’s HIV status. This is a campaign to increase the practice of safer sex and to encourage men to recognize the assumptions they make that can put them at higher risk for infection.
Q.6. Is this campaign pulling back from stressing universal condom use?
A.6. Yes. This campaign tries to address the complexities of decision making around condom use and why men still practice unsafe sex.
This campaign is promoting the practice of safer sex. However, we know that gay men have been inundated with the ‘condom’ message to the point that it may not be an effective communications tool for everyone.
Accordingly, HIV prevention, and this campaign, must move beyond “use a condom everytime” messages in order to engage and be relevant to today’s population of gay men. Effective messages assist men in making realistic and informed decisions about their personalized risk-reduction practices.
Q.7. Why are you using a US-based campaign instead of a Canadian one?
A.7. The San Francisco campaign that we have purchased was proven successful in creating awareness in the US, so we have adapted and expanded it to a Canadian cultural context in order to ensure acceptability, accessibility and maximal relevance to the target population.
We made the decision to purchase a campaign rather than create one due to time and budget constraints this year. It was more cost-effective and time-effective to purchase and adapt a campaign. Next year we plan to develop and implement a Canadian campaign.
Q.8. How much has the campaign cost?
A.8. The national “How do you know what you know?” campaign has cost approximately $200 000, and includes the development, implementation and evaluation across six cities in Canada. In Ontario $235 000 has been provided by the AIDS Bureau, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to implement the campaign across the province.
An additional $250 000 has been allocated for next year’s Canadian-made campaign.
Media contact:
John Maxwell
Director of Communications and Community Development
AIDS Committee of Toronto
416-340-8484 ext. 245
email: jmaxwell@actoronto.org
www.THINK-AGAIN.ca
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