JHU/CCP Success Story , October 31, 2007Abidjan CI.
When communication contributes to increasing demand for HIV/Aids services…
“Your Health, your decision, your life” campaign in Côte d’Ivoire
In Côte d’Ivoire, 4% of the women and 3% of the men
had taken an HIV test 12 months before the Aids
Indicators Survey (EIS CI 2005). In this context, how to
incite the populations to use the VCT, ART and PMCT
services? That was the problematic behind the “Your
Health, your decision, your life” campaign conducted in
Côte d’Ivoire from March 1st to April 30, 2007 by the
Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication
Programs (JHU/CCP), with the financial support of Center of NGO Lumière Action, Abobo, sensitization
PEPFAR. This campaign whose primary target was urban during Open Visit Days
women aged 18 to 35 and secondary target the partners
and relatives of these women was to be positive and reassuring. Hence, posters, leaflets,
brochures, TV and radio spots highlighted the benefits of using these services, namely to be
reassured in order to better plan one’s life by means of VCT, to keep oneself healthy through
ART and to have healthy children through PMCT. TV and radio spots broadcasting on the
national media was then relayed by a community trended campaign on 4 pilot sites providing
VCT, ART and PMCT services : 3 in Abidjan; a center owned by the NGO “ Lumière
Action” at Abobo, and two urban health care centers (FSU) under the ministry of Health at
Koumassi and Treichville. And 1 in San Pedro, a center owned by the NGO APROSAM.
In addition to the spots and programs on HIV/Aids with contest games aired on local radios,
Open Visit Days were also organized in 4 centers.
The radio spots and programs have enabled listeners to mitigate their fear of Aids; some
listeners even acted like public awareness agents, not only by urging their peers to be tested
fo HIV, but they also undertook on air to take the test. Besides some listeners gave
testimonies of their experience with HIV/Aids openly.
As for service demand, it has risen by 119 % for HIV tests on the 4 pilot sites: in February
2007 i.e, prior to the campaign, 564 HIV tests were carried out against 1238 by end of March,
2007.
Requests for PMCT have increased on the whole by 14 %, from February to April 2007, but
this ratio conceals major disparities amongst the sites: for the Treichville Abidjan FSU (Urban
health care center), the number of pregnant women tested has increased by 151 % between
February and April and it rose from 84 to 211.
Hence, a well designed community trended communication program has a positive impact on
HIV/Aids service demand. However, the campaign was somehow affected on the one hand by
shortage of inputs on 2 sites and by inadequately disaggregated data collection, on the other
hand. In fact only the Treichville site supplied data on secondary target: out of 255 women
having resorted to PMCT counselling, 211 have been tested for HIV and also 5 husbands!
“This pilot experience will help...”, according to Regina Traoré, JHU/CCP Resident Advisor
“refine the strategy for the launch of the National Testing Day” scheduled for 2008 by RIP+ the Ivorian Network of People living with HIV- in partnership with JHU/CCP.
Contact : Régina Traoré Série
JHU/CCP Resident Advisor, Côte d’Ivoire,
Tél. 225 22 41 95 23