15th International AIDS Conference Bangkok, Thailand - July 11-16, 2004

Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. E10314)

Marcano AJ
MIA, Caracas, Venezuela

ISSUE: A great deal of the literature on HIV produced and used by NGOs, PWAs groups, International Organizations and other stakeholders is originally written in English. In many cases new terms have to be adopted since there is nothing in the English language that can describe what it is intended to explain. Unfortunately, non-English speaking countries affected by HIV are rarely incorporated in the process of producing new terminologies. The main problem is that the translation of basic concepts of HIV into other languages just does not work and a lot of time needs to be spent in explaining what a simple term means (in English) so people can understand the complete text. For example, the term advocacy has no direct translation into Spanish and different descriptions can be found in different documents; just trying to explain what is advocacy, means losing precious time and space.

DESCRIPTION: In my years of experiences translating documents I have found that many times, terms are produced with the intention of reducing the amount of words to explain a concept, but explaining something in simple terms in English sometimes does not work in other languages. Lesson learned: It is important to incorporate stakeholders from non-English speaking countries in the production or adoption of new terms. This does not have to be a complicated process and can really help to promote the message intended in most of the literature about HIV around the world.

RECOMMENDATIONS: A small Committee can be formed to officially translate some of the terms into other languages other than English. This Committee needs to analyze and incorporate into the translation process the particularities of each regions and languages. This is the best way to spread a message that would be easier to understand and follow.

040711
E10314

Copyright © 2004 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.