Formats, Partnerships, and Content: Optimising the Components of an HIV and AIDS Media Campaign in Angola

This 4-page report highlights the findings of a survey that was done to assess the impact of Mo Kamba (My Mate), a radio call-in and discussion programme, as well as complementary public service announcements, dealing with a wide range of issues around HIV and AIDS. The programme is designed for 15-24 year olds, with a stated objective of raising knowledge of transmission routes, methods of risk reduction, and encouraging greater discussion about sexual health across Angola. Between March 27 and May 5, 2006 (eight months after Mo Kamba was first broadcast) the BBC World Service Trust carried out a survey of 15-24 year olds in four provinces across Angola (Luanda, Benguela, Cunene and Lunda Norte). The purpose of the survey was to establish the awareness, reach, and appeal of Mo Kamba and a selection of the PSAs, as well as to determine levels of knowledge, attitudes held, and self-reported behaviour relating to issues directly relevant to risk reduction around HIV.

The resulting report charts the key findings of the survey, including some gender-related variations in behaviour. For example, messaging around condoms appears to be particularly effective among young women, as compared to young men. Respondents who were sexually active and did not listen to Mo Kamba reported using a condom an average of 2.5 times in the previous three months. Those who listened to Mo Kamba used a condom on average 3.5 times in the three months prior to survey. The gap between female listeners and non-listeners is larger than the gap between male listeners and non-listeners. 46 % of women listeners compared to 28 % of non-listeners owned a condom.

The survey found that Mo Kamba listeners are more likely to:

•  have ever bought a condom;
• own a condom now;
• have ever used a condom; and
• have used a condom the last time that they had sex.

Mo Kamba listeners were also more likely to:

• cite condom use as a means of reducing the risk of contracting HIV;
• see condom use as a sign of respect for their partner; and
• say that condoms are used by responsible people.

The survey identified the following lessons learned.

Format

• Formats which facilitate young people’s interaction with programmes - allowing them to hear voices of their peers discuss sexual health issues - resonate strongly with young people in Angola. Mo Kamba, which presents the opportunity for young people to engage directly with key issues around HIV and AIDS, and sexual behaviour more generally, enjoys high reach among rural populations where prevalence of HIV and AIDS is highest in Angola.

   

• PSA messaging which draws upon scenarios which are recognisable to young Angolans have the highest recall among the audience. Subsequent PSAs for this project have built on this appeal, producing PSAs which follow established “characters” through a series of scenarios covering other aspects of the messaging strategy.

Purposes of Multi-format campaigns

• They are a mechanism for reinforcing key health messages across different outputs and allow the opportunity of cross promotion.

   

• They optimise the reach of messaging where audiences and media consumption patterns are fragmented and varied across the population. For example, the PSAs have higher reach among urban populations than the long format programme, Mo Kamba.

   

• Using multiple formats enables the audience to engage with the messaging in different ways, with Mo Kamba serving as the platform for discussing the social context of the key health messages covered in the PSAs.

Content

• Listeners to Mo Kamba display differences in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour across a range of indicators, when compared with non-listeners. Listening to Mo Kamba is most strongly associated with ownership of condoms, and with the likelihood that respondents will cite fidelity to one partner as a means of preventing transmission of HIV and AIDS.

   

• Frequency of exposure to Mo Kamba is associated with both condom ownership and condom use. There are significant differences between the self-reported behaviour of regular and less regular listeners.

   

• Messaging around condoms appears to be particularly effective with young females. The differences in condom ownership and condom use between female listeners and non-listeners to Mo Kamba, are more pronounced than among young males.

Partnerships

• The geographical and social diversity of the Angolan audience makes it necessary to establish partnerships with a wide range of national and regional broadcasters to maximise the reach of programming. Region, age and gender are all variables which have an impact on patterns of radio consumption among young people. Building partnerships which optimise reach across diverse groups is central to success. 
•  Future HIV and AIDS work through radio in Angola should build upon the learnings from the research, developing content and formats that resonate with the target audiences, and building partnerships which optimise impact.