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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2002
Zambia's HEART Program Evaluation Shows Youth Respond
Positively to AIDS Prevention Plan Promoting Abstinence
HEART Program Urges Abstinence or Consistent Condom Use BARCELONA—Urging young people to abstain from sex in Zambia may not appear to make sense in a country where 75 percent are sexually active, but an AIDS prevention program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shows young Zambians crave support for their decision to abstain and prevent HIV/AIDS.
Zambia's HEART (Helping Each Other Act Responsibly Together) program was designed by youth for youth and uses the mass media to promote HIV/AIDS prevention through abstinence, being faithful to one partner, or consistent condom use. Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) and Population Services International (PSI) are implementing the HEART campaign in partnership with several youth NGOs. JHU/CCP recently evaluated the program's first phase through extensive surveys with Zambian young people, who said they need support to remain virgins until older.
“Zambia's HEART program is a good example of an HIV/AIDS prevention strategy that is working,” said Paul De Lay, Acting Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS at USAID. “The data show young people are abstaining from sex or using condoms as a result of the HEART spots on television and radio.”
The results of the HEART evaluation were presented Thursday in Barcelona, Spain, at the 14th International AIDS Conference.
According to an evaluation of youth surveys conducted in Zambia in 1999 and 2000, girls in particular said they want concrete messages with reasons to stay virgins or return to abstinence. The decision to abstain was frequently reported as a direct result of exposure to the HEART program. Respondents were also more likely to say they chose ‘to abstain' rather than to report condom use, a finding that counters the common argument in Zambia that television and radio spots about safe sexual behavior encourage promiscuity.
“Clearly abstinence, in addition to other prevention messages, is working in Zambia,” said Elizabeth Serlemitsos, Chief of Party for the communication component of Zambia's Integrated Health Programme (ZIHP), a joint effort of USAID and the Government of Zambia. “We need to continue to promote the idea that abstinence is a social norm among Zambian youth, whether they are still virgins or wanting to return to abstinence.”
JHU/CCP is a pioneer in the field of strategic, research-based communication for behavior change and health promotion that has helped transform the theory and practice of public health communications. With representatives in more than 30 countries, JHU/CCP has been a leader in the development of projects based on systematic needs assessments and clear strategies for positioning and presenting the benefits of health interventions to appropriate audiences.
For more information contact: Kim Martin at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA. Tel: 410 659-6140; Fax: 410 659-6266 e-mail: press@jhuccp.org. PRESS ROOM: http://www.jhuccp.org/pressroom
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