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Publications
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Popular
musicians contributed their time and talent gratis to the
Stop AIDS Love Life video.
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The partnership that developed the Stop AIDS Love Life campaign included the Ministries of Information and Health, the Ghana AIDS Commission, the Ghana Social Marketing Foundation, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs (CCP). CCP’s Population Communication Services project provided technical assistance with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The first phase of the campaign integrated mass media and community-level interventions to slow the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ghana by promoting greater use of HIV-protective behaviors – abstinence, faithfulness, and condoms.
Following lessons learned in other countries, the program partners viewed a societal response as an essential precondition for HIV-related behavior change. Partly due to relatively low levels of HIV seroprevalence in Ghana (3% as of December 2001), HIV/AIDS was not a high priority on the national agenda prior to the campaign. Working with ongoing advocacy efforts coordinated by UNAIDS and others, the campaign mobilized political leaders and community members to promote increased public dialogue about HIV/AIDS.
The initial phase of the Stop AIDS Love Life campaign occurred between February 2000 and June 2001, and emphasized the use of HIV-protective behaviors. Subsequent phases of the campaign placed a greater emphasis on compassion for those living with HIV/AIDS, including the involvement of tribal chiefs in the second phase and religious leaders in the third phase of the campaign. The development of the fourth phase is now underway.
The
Stop AIDS Love Life campaign developed a wide array of materials.
Shortly after the launch, serial dramas, television spots, and radio
spots aired throughout the country. The spots focused on three basic
issues: positive behavior modeling for the ABCs of prevention (Abstinence,
Being faithful, and Condom use), the need to increase
personal perception of HIV risk, and testimonies from Ghanaians
living with HIV or AIDS. An award-winning radio show, “Speakeasy,”
aired for one year, with each episode followed by a live, in-studio
discussion among youth of the issue highlighted. “Speakeasy”
led to the development of the television program “Things We
Do for Love,” which is rated the number-one television show
in Ghana.
The Stop AIDS Love Life music video and song aired on television
and radio throughout the campaign’s first phase. The refrain
“You can maintain one lover. If it’s not on, it’s
not in. Or you can wait until marriage. Love Life. Stop AIDS”
encapsulated the program’s main messages —be faithful,
use a condom every time you have sex, or remain abstinent. Seventeen
popular Ghanaian musical artists donated their time to collaborate
on the song, with musical styles ranging from rap, reggae, R&B,
and gospel, sung in seven different languages.
Community rallies entertained and educated more than 400,000 people in over 200 cities and towns. Twenty audio/visual vans conducted rural outreach by showing videos on AIDS in five languages, and conducting question-and-answer sessions in remote areas throughout Ghana. These vans reached approximately 4 million people, mostly living in poor and rural sections of the country.
Stop AIDS Love Life also provided support for materials development to a large number of groups. Specifically, the program facilitated a participatory process to develop materials, produced large quantities of these materials, and maintained a demand-driven distribution system to ensure materials were used efficiently and effectively to interested government, civic, and community groups. The materials developed included 2 million leaflets, 200,000 Q&A booklets, 50,000 stickers; 30,000 posters, 25,000 t-shirts, and 25,000 caps.
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Promoting
awareness of HIV/AIDS
to school children in Ghana. |
Researchers measured Stop AIDS Love Life’s impact using
data from a number of sources. Two household surveys conducted in
1998, the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) and the Ghana
Youth Survey (GYS), served as baseline assessments. The Ghana Reproductive
Health and Child Survival Survey (GRHCSS), a household survey conducted
in July 2001, provided measures following the initial phase of the
campaign. Researchers included trends in condom sales between 1996
and 2001 as an independent measure of program effect.
The campaign was successful in reaching a large majority of the population. Overall, 83% of males (aged 15-59) and 77% of females (aged 15-49) recalled hearing or seeing the campaign logo or slogan. Furthermore, 37% of men and 26% of females had high exposure to Stop AIDS Love Life, recalling the campaign in seven to 11 communication channels.
The campaign accomplished its objective of increasing the use of HIV-protective behaviors, particularly regarding the use of condoms. Among sexually active men, condom use at last sex increased from 13% in 1998 to 24% in 2001. Among sexually active women, condom use at last sex increased from 4% to 12% during that period. Further, even after controlling for a number of socio-economic characteristics, those sexually active men and women exposed to the campaign were more likely than unexposed men and women to have used a condom at last sex (Figure 1). While only 10% of male non-viewers used a condom at last sex, 34% of men with high campaign exposure had done so. Among sexually active women, 4% of female non-viewers reported using a condom at last sex, compared to 22% of women with high campaign exposure. These differences remained when married and single respondents were examined separately.
Trends in condom sales and distribution by the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ghana Social Marketing Foundation (GSMF) and PPAG— the three largest distributors of condoms in the country—offered further evidence of the effect of the campaign on condom use (Figure 2). The number of condoms sold during the two years following the campaign (34.8 million) was almost double that sold during the two years prior to the campaign (18.8 million).
Although condom use increased, age at first sex and multiple partnerships were largely unchanged by the campaign among the population at large. This lack of change in sexual behavior may have been due to the relatively late age of sexual debut and the relatively low level of multiple partnerships in Ghana. Reported faithfulness, however, did increase among married men with high exposure to the campaign as compared to those with no exposure. In light of these findings, the Stop AIDS Love Life campaign will intensify its efforts in promoting abstinence and in reducing the number of partners, especially for single people. The campaign will also increase its emphasis on self-efficacy, self-esteem, and problem solving, particularly for youth audiences. Additionally, a new component was introduced in November 2002 to reduce the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. Christian and Muslim religious leaders are actively involved in encouraging compassion for those living with HIV/AIDS.
To learn more about “Stop AIDS Love Life” contact:
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Ian Tweedie, Senior Program Officer or |
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Emmanuel Fiagbey |
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© 2005 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.
