AFEW: For journalists >> "Safer Sex - A Healthy and Wise Choice: A Step Further"

"Safer Sex - A Healthy and Wise Choice: A Step Further"

Tuya Badarch, Executive Director, NGO "Focus"
Tel/Fax: 11328148, email: focus@magicnet.mn

04 June 2004 AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) and the Mongolian non-governmental organisation (NGO) Focus, in co-operation with the Mongolian Ministry of Health, are launching a follow-up media campaign to their successful project carried out in 2003. The campaign aims to avert the potential HIV epidemic in Mongolia by instilling a sense of personal responsibility for choosing a healthy lifestyle among young people, and motivating them to use condoms as a reliable method to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies.

Mongolian health authorities are concerned about high STI rates and also the progress of the HIV epidemic in neighbouring countries. In the Russian Federation, the cumulative number of registered HIV cases as of March 2004 is 274 197 (Data from the Russian Federation Federal AIDS Centre), while in China the experts estimate that there are around one million HIV-positive people (UNAIDS press release, February 2003). So far, only four cases of HIV infection have been officially reported in Mongolia, however experience has shown that no country is immune to the epidemic.

The new campaign is a follow up of three prior mass media campaigns conducted in Mongolia. All three campaigns are based on international experiences and lessons learned throughout the world. The main goal of this campaign is to move a step further - young people will be encouraged to take personal responsibility for their health.

When the first mass media campaign was launched back in 1999 there was an atmosphere of social taboo surrounding issues related to reproductive health. Over the years and due to continuous campaigning, we can state that there are already well-educated and modern young people who do take responsibility for their own sexual behavior and that an atmosphere of acceptance and social approval of condom use has been created. At the same time, the campaign pays more attention to encouraging young women to be more self-confident in intimate relations and to say NO even to safer sex if a woman feels she is not ready.

A 2003 post-campaign survey carried out among young people in selected regions indicates that they were very receptive to the previous campaigns. 84% are familiar with the project, 80% liked the campaigns, 98% considered the information important, and 90% wanted the campaign to continue. Young people who had seen the campaign indicated that they were more receptive to condom use and more willing to discuss this issue with their partners (source: AFEW/Focus/DMS KABP survey, 2003).

The campaign will run for at least five consecutive months and will appear in Ulaanbaatar, Orkhon, Tuv and Khovd provinces beginning 4 June 2004. The campaign materials include two 30-second video commercials, a radio commercial, an outdoor advertisement (15 bus stickers and eight billboards), information leaflets (270 000), posters (10 000) and calendars (50 000). A number of youth events will support the project.

For further information please contact:
AFEW Campaign Consultant Tanja Grechukhina, Senior Adviser, Media Campaign Programme, AFEW
Tel: +7 095 2506377, fax: +7 095 2506387, e-mail: tanja_grechukhina@afew.org