Since 2002, YouthNet has partnered with MTV on the Staying Alive Campaign, which reached over 800 million households worldwide, making it the largest public health campaign ever. The campaign produced five hours of television available to TV and radio stations around the world, and also produced a Web site with HIV/AIDS information, referrals, and programming in English, French, and Spanish. A case study was recently published by YouthNet, detailing the successes and experiences of the 2002 Staying Alive Campaign.
Governance and participation in health
Case Study of the MTV Staying Alive Campaign
Friends in deed - preventing HIV through peer education in South African
HIV is rampant among young people in South Africa, despite sound knowledge about sexual health risks. Levels of perceived vulnerability among this group are low and unprotected sex is common. Researchers from the London School of Economics studied a participatory programme seeking to empower young people to change gender norms as an HIV prevention strategy.
Sensitive matters: HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns in Zimbabwe
How can we tell if teenagers are responding to HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns? Is it acceptable to conduct randomised trials in schools to find out? University College London, together with the University Zimbabwe and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, looked into the sensitive topic of interviewing and testing teenagers for sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV, in a feasibility study for a large community randomised trial. It found that communities in Zimbabwe were enthusiastic about taking part in trials in schools and recognised the importance of these.
Community participation and sexual health – is there a relationship?
Is there a relationship between people’s degree of community involvement and participation and their sexual behaviour? If this is the case, it may help to identify possible areas of HIV/AIDS intervention at community level. Researchers from the London School of Economics (LSE) investigated this relationship in a mining town in South Africa. The results were mixed. Whereas some forms of community participation were associated with safer sexual behaviour and lower levels of HIV infection, others acted in the opposite way. The findings highlight the need for further research.
Sensitive matters: HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns in Zimbabwe
How can we tell if teenagers are responding to HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns? Is it acceptable to conduct randomised trials in schools to find out? University College London, together with the University of Zimbabwe and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, looked into the sensitive topic of interviewing and testing teenagers for sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV, in a feasibility study for a large community randomised trial. It found that communities in Zimbabwe were enthusiastic about taking part in trials in schools and recognised the importance of these.
AN URGENT CALL TO CIVIL SOCIETY TO ADVOCATE FOR INCREASED FUNDING TO THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA
Fund the Fund have produced an advocacy kit aimed at civil society organisations (including nongovernmental, community-based, people living with the diseases, faith-based, and trade unions) to promote their advocacy for increased investment in the Global Fund.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29809
CIVIL SOCIETY AND HEALTH - ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SELECTED RESEARCH
Civil society actors have become more visible, active and influential within health and health systems. Understanding their role, the factors influencing them and the health outcomes they produce is important to anyone wishing to improve public health. This website presents an annotated bibliography of research on civil society and health prepared as a collaboration between the World Health Organisation's Civil Society Initiative and Training and Research Support Centre. The research focused on three theme areas: Civil society - state interactions in national health systems; Civil society contributions to pro-poor, health equity policies; Civil society influence on global health policy.
On-Line AIDS Candlelight Memorial - Light a Virtual Candle
You are invited to light a virtual candle for someone who has been touched by HIV/AIDS. Visit http://www.candlelightmemorial.org/lightcandle to be a part of the fastest growing on-line AIDS Candlelight Memorial. The "On-Line AIDS Candlelight Memorial", which is part of the Global Health Council's International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Campaign, gives people from around the world the opportunity to join millions of others in remembering those who have been impacted by HIV/AIDS. Once you have lit your virtual candle, you will have the opportunity to join the world's largest grassroots AIDS event and register your community to be part of the "International AIDS Candlelight Memorial" on May 18, 2003. By organizing a Memorial for May 18, you will be lighting candles in solidarity with millions of other individuals in more than 90 countries around the world.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29725
Participatory Learning and Action: Ethiopia Project Shows How a Participatory Process with Youth can Help Shape National Policy
To begin planning its program, the new Ethiopian Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Culture turned to an approach called participatory learning and action, or PLA. Officials involved young people throughout the country in a learning and planning process for the Ministry. The youth developed a national youth charter and a 3-year action plan to mobilize youth for improved sexual health and HIV/AIDS preventive behavior. Plus, the process led to the creation of a dynamic network of young people committed to the health and future of the country.
Examining HIV/AIDS THROUGH THE Eyes of Ordinary South Africans
This paper produced by the Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR) at the University of Cape Town compares public opinion survey data from the Afrobarometer with epidemiological data about the HIV/AIDS pandemic in seven Southern African countries. The authors use this data to examine the degree to which people are aware of the pandemic, and are willing to speak about it. They also use it to examine whether it yields any palpable consequences of the disease in terms of public health. In turn, they also ask whether data on public awareness of AIDS deaths and individual health status corroborate, broadly, existing epidemiological data on HIV/AIDS. Finally, they examine the degree to which HIV/AIDS affects southern Africans' political priorities, political participation and expectations for government action.