AIDS and the social irresponsibility of the insurance industry [letter]
Year: 1993
Type: article
Abstract: AIDS is one of the most important public health problems facing South Africa today yet we continue to see responses to the HIV epidemic from the public and the corporate sector that are profoundly insensitive. A recent advertising campaign for an insurance company offering cheaper policies based on low AIDS risk features a man hanging upside down from a biplane and carries an exhortation not to cross-subsidize AIDS sufferers. The message implied is that those who contract AIDS do so because of irresponsible lifestyles and that AIDS care should not be the average persons concern. These images we believe are grossly misleading and will feed social prejudice and stigma related to the disease. It is abundantly clear that the insurance industry has not dealt with smoking in the same stigmatizing fashion it applies to the issue of HIV despite the fact that smoking remains one of the most potent lifestyle-related causes of disease and death. These double standards reflect on the moral integrity and social sensibility of the insurance industry. The value judgments implicit in these public adverts are hugely destructive to educational initiatives for the prevention of the spread of AIDS and will reinforce social prejudice and public avoidance. Rather than pursuing the short-term financial objectives of a marketing advantage the industry would do well to place a higher premium on its own commitment to social responsibility. (full text)
Source: South African Medical Journal
Authors: Klopper Jm, Jenny Myers, Ricardo Ehrlich, Don McIntyre, Kerushan Chetty, Gillian Weir, Michaela Hoffman, David K.C. Cooper, Leslie London
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $311
OpenAlex ID: W2340387136