Deadly Myths - Jill Kruger, Deputy Director: Social and Behavioural Science, HIVAN
 People often use the word "myth" when they speak or write about HIV/AIDS. But what is a "myth"?
Traditionally, myths are stories passed down from one generation to another, about gods and about heroes with unusual courage and strength. In Zulu mythology, Nomkhubulwana, the daughter of heaven, sends rain, promotes fertility and is the patron of girls and young women. Among ancient Greek myths is that of Prince Jason who, with the help of the sorceress Medea, obtains the golden fleece and saves the Argonauts. This myth has been made into a modern-day adventure film.
 Nowadays, we still refer to ancient myths without thinking about their origin. Cupid, for instance, is portrayed every February in the lead-up to Valentine's Day, as a child whose arrows will pierce the hearts of his victims, causing them to fall in love. In Roman myth, Cupid was the youngest son of the goddess of Love, Venus. In ancient Greece he was Eros, the youngest son of the goddess of love, Aphrodite.
Anthropologists still study the sets of myths which underlie people's collective identities, but since the nineteenth century, people use the word "myth" in an everyday sense to mean something that is widely believed but which is not really true. Myths about HIV and AIDS are growing.
Features of myths
Myths are of unknown authorship.
Myths are held by a number of people, either locally, regionally, nationally or more widely.
There may be a grain of truth somewhere in a myth, but as a whole, a myth is untrue.
Myths are linked to people's socio-cultural environment.
Myths serve to explain some phenomenon of nature or to make sense of contradictions or paradoxes in the world.
 People may use myths to distance themselves from personal responsibility in cases of crisis.
Myths are often stronger than scientific knowledge in driving people's behaviour.
During 2003, HIVAN plans to produce a TV documentary: Deadly Myths, about HIV/AIDS myths that lead people to engage in behaviours that place them or other people in dangerous, risky or difficult situations.
We would like to tap into our readers' knowledge of some or all of the following:
1. How would you define/describe MYTHS about HIV/AIDS?
2. Do you know any myths about the TRANSMISSION of the HIV virus (among adults/children)?
3. Do you know any myths about CURES for AIDS (among adults/children)?
For each of your responses, please tell us:
(a) Where or how you first heard about the myth?
(b) About how many people do you know who believe this myth and
(c) How do they act as a result?
Please send your responses by email to: [email protected] and please include your telephone numbers.
To read more on Jill Kruger and her previous documentaries, please click here
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