Assessing Effects of a Media Campaign on HIV/AIDS Awareness and Prevention in Nigeria

The purpose of this 12-page paper is to identify determinants of family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programme exposure and to assess the effect of a FP/RH mass media campaign on HIV/AIDS awareness and condom use. Specifically, it examines the 3-year VISION Project, which was launched in an effort to improve access to, and awareness of, FP/RH services, HIV/AIDS services, and child survival services in Nigeria. This paper assesses to what extent exposure to this programme, which drew on behaviour change communication (BCC) and community mobilisation as core strategies, translates into increased awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

As detailed here, the VISION Project was carried out in 15 local government areas (LGAs) in Bauchi, Enugu and Oyo states, and was active from September 2001 through September 2004. Launched by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the initiative was implemented by EngenderHealth in partnership with IntraHealth, Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs, Population Services International, and local non-governmental organisations (NGO). Along these lines, networking and partnership were central; for instance, the project sought to develop models of high-impact, high-performing FP/RH service-delivery networks, built on public-private partnerships, to use as models for the delivery of similar interventions elsewhere. Also, the VISION Project worked with local NGOs active in the selected LGAs to develop "informed clients" and to carry out various programme activities.

Specifically, the VISION Project media campaign centred around a set of weekly radio programmes to disseminate FP/RH, HIV/AIDS, and child survival information to the general public. VISION, with its partner NGOs, organised radio discussion clubs and provided these clubs with radios. Complementary mass media activities were carried out; for example, the Society for Family Health (SFH) implemented a television spot to promote safe sex that featured a well-known Nigerian soccer player. (Along these lines, in collaboration with local sports clubs, the VISION Project also developed an outreach strategy, primarily geared toward youth, called Sports for Life to promote healthy lifestyles and spread information on HIV/AIDS prevention and FP during football competitions.) Printed materials were also incorporated: A billboard campaign to increase awareness that someone who is HIV-positive may not have symptoms supplemented the radio and TV campaign, and the project developed information, education and communication (IEC) print materials. In general, some of the messages were geared toward women with an unmet need for FP; others were designed to reach men through a focus on male involvement and responsibility in reproductive decision-making.

Training curricula and capacity-building development, and the offering of training sessions for clinical trainers at university-based hospitals, were other project activities designed to increase FP/RH awareness and service capacity.

A study was carried out to assess whether exposure to VISION-related mass media programmes and printed advertisements/materials had an effect on individual-level willingness to discuss HIV/AIDS (awareness), individual level perception about condom use for reducing the risk of HIV infection (awareness), and whether exposure to mass media programmes translates into increased condom use (HIV/AIDS prevention). The study is based on data from the 2002 and 2004 Nigeria (Bauchi, Enugu, and Oyo) Family Planning and Reproductive Health Surveys, which were conducted among adults living in the VISION Project areas.

In short, the authors found that exposure to the VISION mass media campaign was high: 59%, 47%, and 24% were exposed to at least 1 VISION radio, printed advertisement, or TV programme, respectively. Although the differences in outcome variables between 2002 baseline data and the 2004 follow-up data were small, those with high programme exposure were almost one and a half (odds ratio (OR) = 1.47, 95%; confidence interval (CI) 1.01-2.16) times more likely than those with no exposure to have discussed HIV/AIDS with a partner. Those with high programme exposure were over twice (O.R. = 2.20, C.I. 1.49-3.25) as likely as those with low exposure to know that condom use can reduce risk of HIV infection. However, programme exposure had no effect on condom use at last sex.

Based on these results, the authors conclude that, "exposure to mass media programmes about reproductive health and HIV prevention topics can help increase HIV/AIDS awareness. Programmes that target rural populations, females, and unmarried individuals, and disseminate information on where to obtain condoms, are needed to reduce barriers to condom use. Improvements in HIV/AIDS prevention behaviour are likely to require that these programmatic efforts be continued, scaled up, done in conjunction with other interventions, and targeted towards individuals with specific socio-demographic characteristics."