The Impact of a Mass Media Campaign on HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Behavior Change in North India: Results from a Longitudinal Study

Abstract

India has had a sharp increase in the estimated number of HIV infections, from a few thousand cases in the early 1990s to about 5.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS today. With a population of over one billion, the HIV epidemic in India will have a major impact on the overall spread of HIV in Asia and the Pacific, and worldwide. This article discusses the impact of a mass media entertainment-education campaign on HIV/AIDS in three low-HIV-prevalence north Indian states, New Delhi, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. We used three waves of data from an evaluation study to measure the effects of a mass media, entertainment-education campaign designed to improve knowledge about and prompt interpersonal communication on HIV/AIDS. Results showed that individuals who were exposed to the campaign were more likely (1) to be aware of sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, and condoms, (2) to know about the sexual routes of HIV transmission, (3) to have fewer misconceptions about HIV transmission, and (4) to talk to others about STIs, HIV/AIDS, and condoms than those who were not exposed to campaign messages. The impact of the campaign was limited with regard to changing condom-use behaviors.

Keywords:

• HIV/AIDS
• India
• Entertainment-Education
• Mass Media
• Campaign
• Behavior Change Communication

Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to the individuals who responded to the study survey questionnaires at three points in time. We thank the British Broadcasting Corporation World Service Trust (BBC WST), the National AIDS Control Organization of India, and Prasar Bharti for developing and implementing the BBC WST Partnership Campaign. This research was funded by the Department for International Development (DfID).

Notes

1. An annual HIV Sentinel Surveillance Survey is used to monitor trends of HIV infection in specific high-risk and low-risk groups throughout India. For purposes of HIV sentinel surveillance, high-risk segments of the population include people attending STD clinics, MSM clinics and drug rehabilitation centers. Low-risk segments include mothers attending antenatal clinics, and acts as a proxy measure for the general population (NACO, 2005).

2. Entertainment-education is an approach to education whereby social messages are purposively incorporated in entertainment programs with the intention of increasing audience members’ knowledge about an educational issue, engender favorable attitudes, and change behavior (Singhal & Rogers, 1999). The entertainment-education strategy is also referred to as enter-educate, edutainment, and infotainment.

3. The campaign began in July 2002 and was on air through May 2003.

4. Interventions funded by a variety of donor agencies were conducted in high-prevalence states, thus NACO requested that the BBC WST focus on low-prevalence states. The research conducted for the present study in low-prevalence states was the only evaluation of the BBC WST partnership campaign.

5. Non-regular sexual partners refers to relations with a number of different sexual partners.

6. This panel survey was part of an evaluation exercise to measure the impact of the BBC WST Partnership Campaign.

7. Asset ownership was measured as a sum of 13 household amenities, including bed, chair, table, clock/watch, ceiling fan, bicycle, radio/transistor, telephone, refrigerator, black & white television, color television, moped/scooter/motorcycle, car and air conditioner. Low asset ownership was measured as ownership of 0–9 items, and high asset ownership was measured as ownership of 10–13 items.