ZAMBIA POLICE NEWS HIV AND AIDS POLICY
Foreword
Statistics show that HIV/AIDS remains the single socio-economic challenge facing the world today, with Southern Africa accounting for more than 60 per cent of the global infection rate of more than 40 million people. The rate of adults aged 15-49 living with HIV and AIDS in Zambia is 16 per cent. Out of these women constitute 18 per cent as compared to 13 per cent for men. The Zambia Police Service has not been spared by the pandemic as it has continued to lose officers in the prime of their careers, leaving families without a breadwinner in many cases. The Service has borne the economic impact of HIV and AIDS as the continuous loss of skilled policemen and women has the potential to compromise its law enforcement capability. It is for this reason the Service, with support from the Government of the Republic of Zambia and cooperating partners, has been implementing a work place intervention to prevent HIV infection among its officers and their families; and alleviate the suffering of those already living with the virus. The Zambia Police News has an important role to play in ensuring the success of the intervention. The adoption of an HIV and AIDS policy for the publication is, therefore, a boost to the preventive efforts already in place.
Ephraim Mateyo
Inspector-General, Zambia Police Service
Acknowledgement
This policy would not have been formulated without the inspiration and motivation from the HIV and AIDS and Gender Policy Roll-out Project under the Media Action Plan (MAP) for Southern Africa on HIV and AIDS and Gender. We are, therefore, indebted to the MAP HIV and AIDS Policy Roll-out Project partners namely the Southern Africa Editors Forum (SAEF), Gender Links, Media Institute of Southern Africa and Safaids.
I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of the MAP Country Facilitator, Mr. Charles Chisala, who competently provided the technical expertise needed for the development of this policy. The members of staff and other stakeholders too numerous for me to mention also deserve special commendation for their participation in the whole process.
Director
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BACKGROUND
The Zambian Government has been implementing the National HIV and AIDS Policy through a multi-sectoral response to HIV and AIDS since 2005 to address in an effort to arrest the spread of the pandemic and mitigate its devastating impact on individuals, households, communities and workforces. The Zambia Police Service has been an active player in this multi-fronted fight, having felt the full economic and social impact of the pandemic. The Service has been implementing its own work place based response, which has scored some positive results, though a lot still needs to be done. The arrow’s head of this intervention has been prevention through different strategies. At the core of these strategies is information dissemination. The High Command considers the Zambia Police News as a powerful instrument for the dissemination of preventive messages among police officers and their families. Adopting an HIV and AIDS policy for the publication will, therefore, enhance the Zambia Police Service contribution to the multi-sectoral response to the pandemic.
Introduction
The Zambia Police News is a house journal of the Zambia Police Service whose main objective is to disseminate important information on the work and challenges of the law enforcement agency. The publication also provides a platform for dialogue between the High Command and officers across the ranks. It is published by the public relations section based at the Service headquarters in Lusaka.
RATIONALE
The Zambia Police Service cannot sit on its hands while it continues losing skilled officers to HIV and AIDS related deaths. The Service has a duty to protect its officers and their families from HIV infection and help those who are already infected to cope with their circumstances as a contribution to the national response to the pandemic. Through the Zambia Police News the Service will disseminate important information on behaviour related prevention, treatment, care and support.
POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK
The Zambia Police News HIV and AIDS policy is informed by the National AIDS/STI/TB Policy, the National Strategic Framework, the Republican Constitution, Public Health Act, Industrial and Labour Relations Act, regional and global declarations and protocols on HIV and AIDS and Human Rights.
GOAL
The goal of the Zambia Police News HIV and AIDS Policy is to help create an HIV free Zambia Police Service through the dissemination of accurate information.
OBJECTIVES AND POLICY MEASURES
EDITORIAL PRACTICE
Quantity of Coverage
Objective: To increase the quantity of HIV and AIDS coverage in the editions of the Zambia Police News.
Measures:
(a)Ensure that each edition has two pages carrying stories on HIV and AIDS.
(b)Facilitate training for the editorial staff so as to equip them with the tools which will help them to write accurately, compassionately and analytically.
Diversity of Topics
Objective: To use a holistic approach to the coverage of HIV and AIDS that cuts across all the thematic areas of the pandemic including its gender dimensions.
Measures:
(a)Cover all aspects of HIV and AIDS including prevention, treatment, care and support with equal importance.
(b)Encourage officers living with or affected by HIV and AIDS to express their views through the publication.
(c)Create awareness on the gender dimensions of HIV and AIDS, considering that women are more vulnerable to HIV infection than men.
(d)Highlight the unpaid work of care-givers who attend to patients in homes and hospices.
(e)Ensure that care-givers and their clients are accessed for comment in HIV and AIDS stories, especially those on the impact of HIV and AIDS.
(f)Run in-depth stories on successful community and workplace interventions as way of facilitating information sharing.
Sources: Who speaks?
Objective: To broaden the range of voices and opinions from different sources including people living with HIV and AIDS, female officers, spouses of officers and children.
Measures:
(a)Quote extensively officers or members of officers’ families living with HIV and AIDS because they are directly affected by the pandemic and have a better understanding of this condition.
(b)Ensure that all people living with HIV and AIDS, including those who do not belong to organized groups, are accessed for comment.
(c)Use space to encourage people to fight stigma by being open about their HIV status.
(d)Encourage female officers to speak out on HIV and AIDS, since they are the most vulnerable.
(e)Solicit comments from all staff living with HIV and AIDS, regardless of their rank, age and sex.
(f) Give the pandemic a human face by highlighting the struggles and successes of individuals and households.
How the story is told
Objective: To promote ethical, gender-sensitive and human rights based coverage of HIV/AIDS.
Measures:
(a)Use space to encourage the active involvement of people living with HIV and AIDS in activities intended to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
(b)Promote fair treatment of people living with HIV and AIDS without referring to them by their HIV status because some of them are strong and productive, and can still contribute to the country’s development.
(c)Encourage disclosure of one’s HIV status without necessarily stigmatizing those who choose to do so.
(d)Help people to understand that stigma is very destructive to people living with HIV and AIDS and the crusade against the pandemic.
(e)Endeavour to project a positive image of people living with HIV and AIDS through balanced and fair coverage.
(f)Not publish stories that tend to blame someone for being HIV-positive.
(g)Promote the dignity of all people living with HIV and AIDS regardless of their age, sex and social status.
(h)Encourage reporters to avoid stereotyping people, but write stories based on facts.
(i)Ensure that the experiences and concerns of people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS are not trivialized in stories.
(j)Encourage reporters to ensure that their stories are accurate, fair and balanced.
(k)Adopt and internalise the Ethical Principles of Reporting on HIV and AIDS developed by the Southern African Editors Forum (SAEF).
Use of Appropriate Language
Objective: To promote the use of appropriate language in the coverage of HIV and AIDS as a way of reducing stigma and discrimination against people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.
Measures:
(a)Promote positive language as part of efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS.
(b)Discourage the use of adjectives such as deadly, innocent, etc that tend to convey biases and stereotypes.
(c)Ensure that physical description is used only if it is relevant to the story and this shall apply equally to men and women.
(d)Discourage the use of language that promotes hype and sensationalism.
(e)Develop an internal guide on appropriate language.
Visuals
Objective: To provide guidelines and set standards on the use of images including pictures, illustrations and cartoons.
Measures:
(a)Ensure that women and men are equally represented in images.
(b)Discourage the use of images that exaggerate the physical illness of people living with HIV and AIDS.
(c)Encourage the portrayal of people living with HIV and AIDS as survivors rather than victims. This inspires hope and strengthens their will to live.
(d)Promote the use of images that portray people living with HIV and AIDS as active.
(e)Ensure that images used without an accompanying story are put in context by the use of carefully worded captions.
(f)Ban the use of pictures, drawings and cartoons that openly demean, stigmatise and discriminate against people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS.
(g)Encourage the use of pictures that carry positive messages about people living with HIV and AIDS.
Who tells the story?
Objective: To empower people from divergent backgrounds to actively participate in telling the HIV and AIDS story and ensuring fairness in the allocation of editorial assignments.
Measures:
(a)Encourage officers living with HIV and AIDS and those directly affected to write on the pandemic.
Community Outreach and Corporate Social Responsibility
Objective: To extend the benefits of the Zambia Police News’s intervention against HIV and AIDS to the community.
Measures:
(a)Conduct Community outreach programmes including contributions to charity causes.
(b)Include HIV and AIDS matters in all community outreach programmes and promotions.
IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS
Operationalisation of the Policy
The policy will be operationalised through an Action Plan with specific targets and timeframes.
Responsibility for Policy Implementation
The Director under whose department the public relations function falls shall be responsible for the implementation of the policy. All members of staff will, however, be required to play their respective roles.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The relevant department shall be responsible for the overall monitoring of this policy in accordance with the institutional M&E plan. The policy shall be reviewed every year to keep it alive to changing circumstances.
Resource Mobilisation
To ensure that this policy is successfully implemented, the Zambia Police Services shall:
(a)Make specific allocations in the annual budget towards the coverage of HIV and AIDS by the Zambia Police News.
(b)Raise funds from other sources including bilateral and multilateral cooperating partners, private foundations and other well-wishers.