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Paula Frew, MA, MPH and Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH

Paula Frew is with the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga. Jay M. Bernhardt is with the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. Both authors are with the Public Health Communication Initiative, Emory University.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Paula Frew, MA, MPH, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, 1518 Clifton Rd NE, Atlanta GA 30322 (e-mail: pfrew{at}emory.edu).

FEW PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES in modern times can match the scope and impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for about two thirds of the estimated number of global HIV/AIDS cases.¹ Despite the widespread devastation caused by this disease and the compelling nature of the statistics, much of the developed world has not been exposed to the human side of this pandemic—the people who are most affected by, and living with, HIV. It is their faces, and their lives, that can help communicate the true nature of this disease, and in doing so, encourage more people to action and advocacy on their behalf.

With this goal in mind, American photojournalist Andrew Petkun has sought to capture on film the reality of people in Africa living with HIV/AIDS. His work has taken him throughout the continent to such places as the WAMATA AIDS Support Group in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Nkosi’s Haven, a home for HIV-positive women and their children in Johannesburg, South Africa; and House of Moses Clinic and Orphanage in Lusaka, Zambia. Petkun’s portraits have been displayed at the World Bank in Washington, DC, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama, and numerous American embassies in Africa, and they have been published by the US Agency for International Development in reports submitted to the US Congress. Most recently, we collaborated with Petkun to create an educational and inspiring museum exhibit called Hope for Humanity: The Quest for an AIDS Vaccine, which featured his photographic images and interactive displays about the HIV pandemic and HIV vaccine development.

One of Petkun’s photographs that was included in the exhibit, Mother and Daughter, was taken in February 2000 at the Coping Center for People Living With AIDS of the Princess Marina Hospital in Gabarone, Botswana. The woman, in her late 20s, is living with HIV. Still grieving from the loss of her 11-month-old daughter from AIDSrelated causes the year before, the unmarried mother’s face reveals her pride and joy in her 3-year-old daughter. Yet the image also evokes strong concern about the future of this uninfected child who may soon join the ranks of more than 13 million orphans in Africa created by HIV/AIDS.²

The goal of health communication is to inform, influence, and motivate people and the public on important health issues, and its successful application is grounded in both science and art.³ With a challenge as profound as HIV/AIDS, we encourage public health professionals to use images and other artistic expressions, along with science-based communication interventions, to help raise awareness, increase empathy, and inspire others to make a difference.

	Footnotes

 
Note. Additional photos and information about Andrew Petkun are available at http://www.humanitarianendeavors.com.

	References

TOP References

 
1. AIDS Epidemic Update. Geneva, Switzerland: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organization; 2002:1–42.

2. Children on the Brink 2002: A Joint Report on Orphan Estimates and Program Strategies. Washington, DC: US Agency for International Development, United Nations Children’s Fund, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; July 2002:3.

3. Ratzan SC, ed. Health communication, challenges for the 21st century [special issue]. Am Behav Sci. 1994; 38(2).

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