Assumptions: how do you know what you know?

This publication presents an analysis of different aspects linked to HIV prevention, such as: historical/social conduction, use of preventive resources, stigmatisation and segregation of certain segments of society. This study was carried out by examining a series of approximately 200 HIV prevention campaigns aired in Brazil and around the world between 1983 and 2012. The research revealed various aspects linked to the way the epidemic has been conducted over the last three decades; the discourses linked to it, the changes related to the presence of effective medication, the different demands for prevention that have arisen linked to different niches in society and the problems linked to it. Based on this evaluation, guidelines were established for the creation of alternative proposals for government prevention, based on actions successfully applied in other countries adapted to the Brazilian reality, through the inclusion of design professionals in all stages of the project and the use of Harm Reduction (HR) precepts.