InterPress News Service (IPS); 22 April 1997
Gustavo Gonzalez

The Television Corporation of Catholic University - and the private TV channel, Megavision - declared their right to freedom of speech justified refusal to broadcast Health Ministry TV advertising ''spots'' recommending the use of condoms use one way of avoiding the aquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Surprisingly, the country's media watchdog body , the Media Communications Federation, ageeed with this argument and issued a statement opposing a government plan to pass legislation that would make it illegal to censor - or veto - state campaigns designed to protect public health.

Health officials estimate there are 5,000 carriers of the human imuno-deficiency virus (HIV) - the precursor of AIDS - in Chile and that 10 Chileans are infected daily. The refusal of the two TV stations to be involved in ther government campaign against Aids drew the wrath of President Eduardo Frei who said their decision made accomplices in the pending deaths of thousands of Chileans.

The public health campaign, directed by The National Commision for the Prevention of AIDS (NCPA), primarily is aimed at people between 18 and 30 years of age - the group considered at greatest risk.

The television message, designed by a team of psychologists and health experts, portray a young man who is reluctant to take precautions for fear of being rejected by the young woman with whom he is about to have sex. The message points out that the protagonist is HIV positive and his decision will insure that his partner also becomes a carrier. The spot concludes with a description of the three methods for avoiding infection: sexual abstinence, monogamous relations between uninfected individuals and the use of condoms.

Although this particular spot is the most explicit to date, previous messages also were refused by Megavision and Catholic University TV on the grounds that they encouraged use of condoms. The university channel is a private corporation with no direct Church linkage, whereas Megavision is owned by Richard Claro, a conservative Catholic with ties to Opus Dei.

Executives at both channels contend that by broadcasting the public service announcements which favor condom use, they would undermine their editorial policy interests of defending ''the family and monogamy.''

The medicial doctor who directs NCPA, Raquel Child, has stressed that the spread of AIDS is a serious public health problem and that the TV campaign is intyended to alert citizens how they can protect themselves in ways that respect everyone's private choice.

Child points out that "the prevention of AIDS should not be construed as a matter of values or a crisis of conscience. It is simply necessary for health authorities to inform the populace of the risks associated with different types of behavior".

The arguments presented by the Catholic University's TV channel, and by Megavision, run counter to the criteria applied to other areas of programming. Both channels regularly schedule offerings are full of violence, eroticism and double entendre humor.

President Frei expressed his "indignation over such hypocrisy" which he said weas motivated by the urge to a secure market share and the interest of potential advertisers. Leaders of more liberal right- wing constituencies have criticized the channels' refusal to broadcast the spot.

Nevertheless, they oppose any law that would oblige stations to broadcast public interest campaigns, arguing that such legislation could some day be used as a "totalitarian tool" of government. Santiago's Roman Catholic Archbishop, Carlos Oviedo, has endorsed the position of Megavision and Catholic University Television, saying that any recommendation of condom use would encourage young people to have sexual relations with multiple partners.

Oviedo's endorsement coincided with the release of a national survey which showed that 55.1 per cent of Chileans aged 14 to 20 had experienced sexual relations, a 25 per cent rise increase on numbers in the past five years.

In the same survey, 57 per cent of all respondents expressed their belief that monogamous relationship is the best way to prevent infection, while 23 per cent favored condom usage. A further 60.6 per cent of those polled said they had sufficient information to avoid infection.

Bishop Thomas Gonzalez, who presides over the southern diocese of Punta Arenas, said that the Catholic Church cannot prohibit the use of condoms due to the Church's doctrine of "lesser evil" which gave priority to defending life over any other consideration. (END/IPS/gg/aa/mk/97) TX

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