Government Communication to HIV/AID Pandemic to the Public (Essay Sample)

How the Government Communicated HIV/AID Pandemic to the Public and it Impact on Transmission Rates
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How the Government Communicated HIV/AID Pandemic to the Public and it Impact on Transmission Rates
HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly one of the global pandemics that has killed millions of world wide. According to Avert (2018), the exact date when the pandemic emerged is not known. Avert (2018) observes that the first case of HIV/AIDS in the US was reported in 1981. Then, five previously healthy gay men were found to be suffering from pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), a rare form of lung infection. Later the same year, another group of men were reported to be suffering from Kaposi’s Sarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer. Concerns started being raised about the correlation between the new disease and gays. The government did not release any communication about the disease initially which is anticipated to be the main reason why the disease spread.
Several researchers have explored the HIV/AIDS pandemic from different andles. For instance, Guaraldi et al. (2014) explored the history of HIV while Wu (2006) described how the US and China media covered the pandemic. The current study was based on the situational crisis communication theory. According to van Rensburg et al. (2017), the theory portends that organizations or governments must ensure that their reputations are not negatively impacted by communication during crisis. The researcher used quantitative research techniques. The quantitative aspect of the research involved gathering data using the questionnaire. On the other hand, the qualitative aspect involved using an interview guide. The researcher used the purposive sampling technique to select 38 participants who had interacted with HIV patients during the first few years. The researcher ran a regression of government communication against transmission rates and tested the study hypothesis using the p-value.
From the findings, majority of the respondents agreed that there was laxity on the part of the government to develop a communication framework to notify its citizens about the pandemic. The government also failed to fund its health agencies such as the CDC hindering their operations. As a result, the disease continued being transmitted. When the government finally formulated a communication policy, it involved setting up a communication hotline, sharing videos and inforgraphics to the deaf, and using TV programs to inform the public about the disease and the various ways they could keep themselves free from getting infected. Accordingly, the rates of transmiss