HIV/AIDS and the federal government strategy related to it

Overall

Although knowledge levels are high, there is quite a knowledge gap with respect to the government's approach to HIV/AIDS. Support for government involvement, however, is high and Canadians would welcome learning about efforts concentrated on public education, prevention and research into treatment (as they view HIV/AIDS as a very serious issue that must be addressed).

While undoubtedly there is no shortage of information about HIV/AIDS on the Internet, it is interesting to note that Canadians report that they currently rely on the Net (and doctors) less for this issue than for others, but express a preference for getting their information this way. Perhaps future communications campaigns could highlight key websites where Canadians can find information about HIV/AIDS and the federal government strategy related to it.

While tolerance and comfort levels among Canadians are high in theory, likely in practice they would be lower, given the variation in responses to different questions and scenarios put forth in the survey.

From a behavioural point of view, messaging regarding safer sex is clearly a very tough issue to tackle, as even the most knowledgeable are quite complacent about the idea of risk of contracting HIV and the need for protective measures. Given that the fatal nature of HIV/AIDS is not well understood, messages regarding safer sex may have their strongest impact when coupled with the message of fatality (no matter how long after contracting the disease death occurs).