Uganda: Mobilizing Ugandan Men for STD Treatment
(The "Stop-Treat-Destroy" Campaign)

• Overview
• Partners
• Target Audience
• Objectives
• Outputs
• Impact

Overview

In February 1998, the DISH project in Uganda launched an intensive campaign built around World Cup Football to inform men about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases and how to prevent and treat them. Implemented as part of the Delivery of Improved Services for Health (DISH) project, the intended audience for the STD campaign were married men between 18 and 35 years old residing in the 12 DISH project districts. The STD campaign told men and their partners that STD stands for Stop, Treat and Destroy. To treat STD correctly, men were encouraged to: Stop having sex or use condoms while on treatment; Treat themselves and all their sexual partners under proper medical guidance; and Destroy the disease totally by completing all their medication even if symptoms disappeared. Campaign messages referred men and their partners to health facilities with the rainbow over the yellow flower for information and treatment of STDs. The message was incorporated into 30-second television PSAs, featuring famous national football stars, in English and Luganda that were broadcast during the World Cup Football Matches on Uganda Television (UTV), Uganda's most popular and only national television station. In addition, educational videos were shown and discussions about STDs held with football teams, policemen and communities around police barracks.

Partners

• National Council of Sports (NCS)
• MoE/S
• FUFClubs
• DMO
• Media Consultants Ltd.
• UTV
• Marie Stopes International
• SOMARC
• Uganda Police Welfare Department
• Local NGOs.

Target Audience

Married men between 18 and 35 years old residing in the 12 DISH project districts.

Objectives

The goal of this campaign was to increase proper prevention and treatment of STDs among men. According to focus group discussions conducted in Uganda in 1997, men were particularly unlikely to visit health facilities for treatment of STDs. Although men are more likely than their female partners to recognize STD symptoms and seek treatment, they rarely referred their partners for treatment; while on treatment, men rarely abstained from sex or used condoms. As a consequence, STD treatment was often ineffective and the estimated prevalence of STDs among adult men and women was as high as 30% in some parts of the country.

• To increase the number of men 18-35 years old who know how to properly treat sexually transmitted disease.
• To increase the number of men 18-35 years old who seek treatment for STDs at health facilities labeled with the family health logo
• To increase the number of men who state 2 consequences of untreated sexually transmitted diseases.

Outputs

• Radio spots
• Posters,
• "Health Matters" newsletters
• The video "Time to Care"
• TV spots during World Cup broadcasts
• Desk-top flipchart for health workers
• District Health Educators organized a series of educational events carrying the campaign messages such as bicycle races, soccer matches, stalls at markets, and community video shows.

Impact

Almost every client interviewed (99.6%) had seen or heard at least one campaign message; most had been exposed to messages from at least 6 different channels.

• 41% of the clients reported that they seen the PSAs, and 6.5% of them said they had been influenced to come to the clinic that day for STD treatment by the PSAs.
• The PSAs were the fourth most influential campaign material after radio spots
• It is estimated that 4 million persons, half of the adult population of Uganda, saw the PSAs based on viewership estimates from market surveys.
• 240 football players were reached with the video drama, "The Dilemma", and 15 of them volunteered to become spokespersons to disseminate STD campaign messages and condoms. An additional 3,000 men were reached through football players.
• About 13,000 adults were reached through the community education video shows.
• A total of 7,654 people between the ages of 14 and 30 years were reached by 92 video shows.
• More than half of the clients could name two or more consequences of improperly treated STDs.
• Between January 1997 and December 1998, when the campaign was in its intensive phase, the number of STD clients attending 75 sentinel health facilities increased by 55%.

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