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HIV/AIDS/STD’s Campaign - Brazil

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After many controversial media campaigns in Brazil, a multimedia campaign was produced with a shift in the focus of AIDS campaigns from fear tactics to education. This was the first project to produce a nationwide multimedia campaign at no or low cost. People living with HIV/AIDS and light-hearted messages encouraging individual responsibility and prevention educated people about HIV/AIDS and promoted behavioral change. The objective was to prevent further transfer of HIV through education. Social responsibility was promoted, and the value of life and individual sexual freedom were emphasized.
Communication Strategies

Songs about AIDS and prevention, popular music and dance. The 1996 campaign used: five newspaper ads, radio spots, TV ads, 25,000 posters billboards and ads on public buses at low or no cost. Stereotypes were displaced by allowing HIV infected people tell people about the disease.
Development Issues

HIV/AIDS; sexual responsibility, condoms
Key Points

Previous campaigns showed that frightening people had the opposite effects that were desired on the population, i.e, they scared people away from the information. Also, the frequent association between AIDS and death carried a depressing tone as well as a subliminal message of guilt for those who were already infected. After the failure of scare-tactics, a new approach of education and prevention was initiated to provide a high quality, low cost, non-superficial program.
Partners



GAPA-Bahia (an NGO), many sponsors

Sources

AIDS/STD Health Promotion Exchange. 1996, No 4.