World AIDS Day: Clearing Misconceptions

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We revisit popular AIDS awareness campaigns in India and clear some of the misconceptions about HIV-transmission.

Pulli rajaku AIDS varuma?

Translating to “Will Pulli Raja get AIDS?”, this 2003 Tamil public service announcement (PSA) for AIDS awareness entered popular lexicon in Chennai. As with all effective PSAs, it is based on a simple premise – posing a question for the everyman, in this case for ‘Pulli Raja.” The campaign has a second part.

In this part, the man pouring the drink explains how it’s possible for Pulli Raja to get AIDS. “If a person like you drinks and goes to a woman, and forgets to use protection, then it is certainly possible to get AIDS.”

Despite these ads, there are still a lot of misconceptions about how one contracts HIV/AIDS and manages it. AIDS isn’t an exclusive condition  – heterosexual, homosexual and transsexual couples can all contract it. But the myths surrounding it know no gender.



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