Radio, TV and print have positive impact on AIDS - study

A new survey in South Africa has proved the positive effect of media campaigns in raising HIV/AIDS awareness.

The study by four organisations, including the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Centre for Communication Programmes, covered more than 8,000 people across the country and examined how exposure to more than 20 media initiatives had shaped their behaviour.

"It [the survey] shows for the first time that interventions through radio, TV and print have had a profound effect on increased condom use and HIV testing," Dr Warren Parker, executive director of the youth drama series Tsha Tsha, told IRIN/PlusNews.

Parker was confident that at least half the people tested nationwide for HIV over the past year had been influenced by the campaigns.

According to the findings of the survey, Tsha Tsha - with an audience of 14 million - has shown a significant impact on condom use and HIV discussion and testing, while another popular youth programme, Soul City, which reaches 70 percent of the nation's 45 million people, has had a marked influence on stigma reduction.

However, Parker warned that gaps remained in terms of the lack of a common message shared by both the government and civil society organisations in the fight against the pandemic.

Although the government has consistently drawn international criticism for its lukewarm commitment to orthodox AIDS interventions, a recent two-day AIDS congress signalled a new spirit of cooperation with non-governmental organisations in combating the pandemic.

In addition to being poised to present its new anti-AIDS action plan over the coming months, the government has announced a tender for the implementation of its troubled communication programme, Khomanani ('come together').

Khomanani had also been acknowledged as one of the AIDS awareness campaigns that have had an effect in modifying sexual behaviour.

Parker and his survey partners are taking their findings on the road to encourage the implementation of multiple media communication campaigns in current national policies on AIDS.

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