African Cinema Conference presents...
The Drum Beat - Issue 207 - HIV/AIDS, Change, Mass Media, South Africa
July 28, 2003
from The Communication Initiative...global forces...local choices...critical voices...telling stories...
Partners: The Rockefeller Foundation, BBC World Service Trust, The CHANGE Project, CIDA, Exchange, FAO, Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs, OneWorld, The Panos Institute, PCI, Soul City, The Synergy Project, UNAIDS, UNICEF, USAID, WHO.
Chair of Partners Group: Denise Gray-Felder, Rockefeller Foundation [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Director: Warren Feek [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: http://www.comminit.com
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This issue of The Drum Beat focuses on the communication aspects of a recent study on HIV/AIDS, change and mass media in South Africa. The study was extensive and addressed many aspects in relation to HIV/AIDS; however, this issue of The Drum Beat will spotlight the results and conclusions of only communication interventions and mass media. All page numbers refer to the full report. For a complete description of the study, its framework and methodologies, results and recommendations, please see the links below.
For a summary of this report, please see http://www.comminit.com/st2003/sld-8077.html
The full report is available as a PDF; see http://www.cadre.org.za/pdf/HIV%20Report.pdf
Also available from http://www.hsrc.ac.za
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"Nelson Mandela/HSRC Study of HIV/AIDS: South African National HIV Prevalence, Behavioural Risks and Mass Media - Household Survey (2002)"
The Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund commissioned a national-level study in South Africa focusing on behaviour change, cultural factors and communication in relation to HIV/AIDS. The study included population-based research on HIV prevalence. It also focused on the impact of the mass media on knowledge, attitudes, and prevention strategies. Research groups involved were the Human Sciences Research Council, Medical Research Council, Centre for AIDS Development, Research & Evaluation (CADRE) and Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le Sida (ANRS).
Using a nationally representative cross-sectional sample of 10,197 households including residential hostels, the study provided information on males and females aged 2 years and over. Representation included all racial and ethnic groups as well as rural and urban areas. The response rate was 73.7% (9,963) for the overall survey; 65.4% (8,840) of respondents agreed to also provide oral mucosal samples for HIV testing.
FINDINGS
Sexual Activity
"The low levels of sexual activity amongst 12-14 year olds found in this study...suggest the relevance of life skills and communication interventions endorsing existing appropriate behaviour (i.e. abstinence). Given that only one in four 15-17 year olds report sexual activity, life skills and communication interventions should emphasise abstinence and delay of sexual debut, alongside condom use for those who are sexually active...
[pps78-9]
Knowledge & Awareness
"Better knowledge of HIV/AIDS has been shown to have a positive relationship to both prevention behaviours and positive attitudes to people with HIV/AIDS. This does not imply that knowledge is a sufficient condition of behaviour change and positive attitudes, but it is a necessary one. ...there are gaps in knowledge and segments of society that are not as well educated about the realities and risks of HIV/AIDS...
"...sub-populations which show deficits in knowledge match the sub-populations with poorest media and communications programme coverage of HIV/AIDS. It is evident that the penetration of media and communications programmes is uneven in our society and matches a cluster of variables which are interrelated, including education, socio-economic status, place of residence (rural-urban) and race. In this context it is important that a more niche oriented and targeted approach to development of knowledge and information about HIV/AIDS be adopted...
[p88]
Information Access: Mass media exposure
"Overall, there are high levels of exposure to broadcast media, although exposure to television is considerably lower in rural areas, informal urban areas and within poorer households. Print media exposure is low, with just over a third of youth and adult respondents having regular exposure. There are however higher levels of newspaper access in the 15-49 year age groups...
[p92]
Information Access: Language
"When respondents were asked whether they agreed with the statement 'There is not enough information in my own language', Afrikaans, Sotho, Tshivenda and Xitsonga speakers were more likely to agree than English and Nguni language speakers. ...60.2% of whites and 83.5% of coloureds have Afrikaans as a home language... English is the home language of only 0.8% of Africans...
[p93]
Information Access: Community Level Communication
"Interactive approaches such as AIDS plays and community meetings about HIV/AIDS are important for supporting dialogue. Distribution of leaflets and posters can contribute to promoting community level dialogue, whilst wearing of the red ribbon may be used to indicate a personalised association with HIV...
"Children were most likely to receive HIV/AIDS information at school, whilst adults were more likely to receive information from a health facility. Health facilities rated highly across all ages, and were the most important source for HIV/AIDS information. Faith-based organisations are an important source of HIV/AIDS information...
[p95]
Information Access: Telephone Helplines
"Telephone helplines...allow callers to explore HIV/AIDS in terms of their own particular concerns... There was relatively high awareness amongst all groups of at least one service... Amongst youth and adults, urban respondents were considerably more likely to note a helpline service than rural respondents...
[p95]
Information Access: Slogans & Messages
"Respondents were asked to indicate which messages or slogans they could recall from HIV/AIDS campaigns... The most pervasive message related to condom use and this was prominent across all age groups. Limiting partner numbers, faithfulness and abstinence are in the mid-range of recall. The least emphasis was on religious or cultural values, care provision for people with HIV/AIDS, and rights of people with HIV/AIDS...
[p96]
"'AIDS kills' was the second most frequent 'message' recalled. Interestingly, no national level mass media campaigns have promoted messages that have incorporated 'AIDS Kills'...as it has been felt that such messaging is excessively fear-based, and also may contribute to the PLWHAs being stigmatized...
[p100]
Information Access: Needs
"In general it appears that South Africans have a good awareness of HIV/AIDS, and are regularly exposed to HIV/AIDS information via mass media and at community level. However...when asked about discrete areas of information need, most respondents expressed a need for further information... [p99] This suggests that mass media campaigns are insufficient as systems of delivery, and other communication channels, particularly dialogue-oriented approaches should be considered...
[p100]
Stigma & Discrimination
"The results show that the majority of the South African population express attitudes of acceptance of PLWHAs... However...there should still be concern about the minority who do have a strong tendency to stigmatization".
[p89]
CONCLUSIONS
HIV Prevalence
"The study found that HIV/AIDS affects all race groups in South Africa. The differences in rates of infection are largely due to social and behavioural determinants, such as living in informal settlements, [poor] access to information and education necessary for prevention, knowing people who have HIV/AIDS or who have died of AIDS, multiple partnerships, as well as having had a sexually transmitted infection...
[p101]
This study has demonstrated that women have higher HIV prevalence than men. There are biological and social reasons for this difference... It is recommended that consideration of gender issues, including gender-related vulnerability to HIV infection, as well as vulnerabilities and imbalances that exist for female PLWAs be integrated into HIV programming.
[p102]
Prevention & Behaviour
"Sexual activity amongst young people should continue to be given attention... The national condom promotion and distribution system should continue to be resourced. Specific attention should be given to provinces where condom use and access is lower...
"...HIV/AIDS prevention programmes [should] be intensified for people living in informal settlements. Apart from solving structural problems (i.e. poor housing conditions), it is critical that prevention programmes in these areas focus on reduction of multiple partnerships, which are often associated with the transient nature of life in informal settlements...
"It is recommended that: (a) prevention campaigns should include a drive to encourage VCT, noting that such promotion has benefits for prevention, as well as care and support for persons who are HIV positive; (b) counselors should be trained to impart knowledge to those living with HIV/AIDS, including issues related to prevention, treatment, partner counseling and relationships; (c) ...there should be treatment of opportunistic infections, provision of nutritional education and supplementation coupled with healthy living...
[p103]
Knowledge & Awareness
"Purposive campaigns utilising mass media, as well as responses to HIV/AIDS in the news media, should be oriented towards understanding and addressing HIV/AIDS information needs correctly and directly. This requires regular monitoring of research, addressing myths and misconceptions, and building linkages with HIV/AIDS service providers and organisations working at community level. Steps should be taken to address areas of poor and incorrect knowledge - for example, uncertainty with regard to the virgin myth, the causal relationship between HIV and AIDS, HIV transmission and kissing, amongst others.
"The red ribbon symbol is widely noted as an important reminder of HIV/AIDS and it is recommended that the red ribbon continue to be integrated into all HIV/AIDS campaigns.
"Noting the relative marginalisation of African languages and Afrikaans, it is recommended that closer attention and emphasis be given to multilingual approaches ...television, radio, billboards and leaflets should be presented in home languages of intended audiences to ensure they are understood.
"Telephone helplines in particular provide opportunities to increase understanding of information needs, and it is recommended that resources be committed to monitoring, analysing and evaluating telephone helpline services.
"Lower levels of access to mass media channels in rural communities and poorer households should be noted. Addressing these limitations necessitates investment in community level communication approaches which build on the resources of local health services as well as fostering linkages and partnerships with faith-based organisations, HIV/AIDS organisations and sectoral organisations. ...HIV/AIDS organisations and sectoral organisations are best positioned to provide such support...
[pps102-3]
Stigma & Discrimination
"There is also a need for campaigns that focus on reducing stigma and encouraging care for PLWAs. These campaigns should be directed at community leaders... Direct support should be given to the development of support systems for HIV disclosure within relationships, the family and communities. However, this should only be encouraged in contexts where support systems are in place, and where steps have been taken to ensure that violence does not occur in response to HIV/AIDS disclosure...
[p104]
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PULSE Poll
http://www.comminit.com/pulse.html
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There is a contradiction between development by and for the most affected and international, large scale development initiatives.
[For context, please see http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat_203.html]
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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
Please send material for The Drum Beat to the Editor - Deborah Heimann [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To reproduce any portion of The Drum Beat, see http://www.comminit.com/Helpdocuments/sld-3318.html for our policy.
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