AFEW: Projects >> Mass Media Campaign on Safer Sex & Solidarity with PLWHA (Ukraine) >> Campaign Background Info

Campaign Background Info

Background

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is currently growing faster in Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union than anywhere else in the world. In 2002, there were an estimated 250,000 new cases of HIV, bringing to 1.2 million the number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in this region. Given the high prevalence of other sexually transmitted infections and the high level of injecting drug use among young people, the epidemic will continue to be explosive (UNAIDS Fact Sheet 2002 Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Epidemic Update, Dec 2002).

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been developing rapidly in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia since the mid-1990s and it is starting to take hold in Central Asia.

Ukraine was the first country in the NIS to face an HIV epidemic and it is continuing to experience a massive outbreak. As of April 2003, there were 54,630 registered cases of HIV. However, UNAIDS estimates that there are around 240,000 PLWHA in the Ukraine, which equates to approximately 1% of the adult population. Ukraine is the first country in Europe to have reached an adult HIV prevalence rate of 1%.

During the last 5 years, HIV has been spreading especially rapidly among injecting drug users, but it has now begun to spread to the general population through sexual intercourse. In the year 2000, 30% of newly registered cases of HIV in the Ukraine were sexually transmitted, whereas only 10% had been in the previous years. The high prevalence of syphilis (113.1 per 100,000 in 1999) in the region indicates that unprotected sex is common.

AIDS Foundation East -West ( AFEW) and HIV/AIDS Prevention Campaigns

AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) is a Dutch non-governmental humanitarian public health organisation whose mission is to make a major contribution to the reduction of the impact of HIV/AIDS in the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union.

AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW) has Dutch roots and was founded with support from Medecins Sans Frontieres -- Holland (MSF-H), the Open Society Institute -- New York (OSI), and the Dutch government. AFEW continues a wide range of HIV/AIDS prevention activities developed and implemented by MSF-H in Russia, Ukraine and Mongolia between 1996 and 2001. During this period, it became increasingly clear that a larger response was needed. Given that no other organisation was capable of continuing existing MSF-H programmes and developing new ones as needed, the creation of AFEW was a logical step. Nearly all of the former MSF-H staff -- approximately 60 personnel -- transferred to the new organisation, thus retaining the knowledge and skills.

The AFEW staff, most of whom had worked in the MSF-H HIV/AIDS program in the NIS during the last 6 years, have extensive experience with the design, implementation and evaluation of mass media campaigning in Ukraine, Russia and Mongolia according to international standards.

Since 1997, eight campaigns have been launched in Russia, Ukraine and Mongolia, all in close collaboration with partner NGOs and government bodies from these countries.

In 2001 the first ever Ukrainian-based mass media campaign, which focused on raising HIV/AIDS awareness and promoting solidarity for people living with HIV/AIDS, was launched. The campaign has been specifically tailored for the Ukrainian audience. The campaign images, plot, and 'peers' were chosen on the basis that they would generate personal identification with the campaign message. Ukrainian research agencies, design firms and print companies were used during the creation of the campaign.

In late 2001, AFEW identified and started to work with a Ukrainian NGO, 'The All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)'. The aim of this collaboration has been to further develop, and eventually hand over, the accumulated knowledge, expertise and practical skills relevant to conducting mass media campaigns about HIV/AIDS.

The All-Ukrainian Network of PLWHA is a non-governmental, charitable organization, which has representatives in 17 regions of Ukraine. The organisation was established on 19 December, 2000 to protect the interests of PLWHA, promote better HIV/AIDS prevention strategies, protect human rights, advocate access to anti-retroviral therapy, improve the quality of life of PLWHA, encourage tolerance toward PLWHA, and attract the attention of the mass media as well as the government to the problems experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS.

Development of the Campaign, ' Safer Sex - The Only Choice'

AFEW follows standard practice by starting the campaign cycle with a 'pre-campaign survey', the aim of which is to establish an epidemiological baseline for the target population according to knowledge, attitude, practice and behaviour. Based on the outcome of this survey and other activities, including focus group discussions, appropriate campaign objectives are developed and implemented. A 'post-campaign' survey measures the impact and serves as the baseline for the next media campaign.

In October 2002, AFEW and the Network of PLWHA started to prepare for a new Ukrainian campaign, 'Safer Sex - The Only Choice'. The campaign is being funded by the Dutch Organisation for International Development Cooperation (Novib - Oxfam, The Netherlands) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

The objectives of the campaign were defined as being:
First, to increase the level of knowledge among young people about HIV/STIs transmission and unplanned pregnancies. Increased knowledge will help to reduce misconceptions about the modes of transmission and also to promote understanding of the level of personal risk of contracting HIV/STIs;
Second, to change the way that young people aged between 15 and 29 years old think, feel, and act when it comes to sex, by creating a more comfortable environment for learning about sexual health issues and by encouraging them to practice safer sex and always use condoms;
Third, to encourage young people to begin to take responsibility for their own health by finding out more about sexual health issues, paying more attention to their own health and that of their partners, and engaging in more open discussion about sexual health with their partners.

Implementation

AFEW worked with a professional design and production agency to create high-quality television and radio advertisements, outdoor advertisements for display on billboards and in subways, and large quantities of print media.

In order to ensure the most extensive and effective impact among the target group, the campaign message will be broadcast on national and local TV and radio channels. The success of this strategy has been proven in other EECA countries where AFEW is conducting similar campaigns (the Russian Federation, Mongolia). In addition, campaign materials will be visible in the metro and on outdoor billboards. Posters, stickers and leaflets containing detailed information about HIV/AIDS/STIs will be produced and distributed among the target groups.

Moreover, the campaign will be conducted among youth organisations, at educational establishments and youth clubs. Campaign materials will be distributed at special events. All possible distribution channels, including pharmacies, will be used to reach both urban and non-urban resident young people.

The campaign will run in Ukraine for four consecutive months, from July to October 2003, using the following media:

• One 30-second television commercial to be broadcast for free by national and regional TV channels
• One radio commercial to be broadcast for free by national and regional radio stations
• 500,000 leaflets to be distributed via medical establishments, pharmacies, NGOs, schools, universities and at events
• 10,000 posters to be displayed in medical establishments, pharmacies, NGOs, schools and universities
• Outdoor advertisements to be visible in at least five cities
• The Internet

This campaign will not only be implemented in Kyiv, but it will also be rolled out in another four cities: Donetsk, Kharkov, Lviv and Odessa. Local organizations in these four regions will be trained in the development, implementation and evaluation of safer sex mass media campaigns.

The effectiveness of the campaign will be measured by an impact study in November of this year. The results of the research will become the basis for a follow-up campaign in 2004.

For more information please contact:

Anja Teltchik - AFEW Head of Mission in Ukraine

Prem Abramova - AFEW Mass Media Campaign Coordinator

Office address:
Esplanadna Str. 28A/2, Kyiv 01023, Ukraine
Tel: +38 044 2206478, 2204517; Fax: + 38 044 2206478
http://www.afew.org

International Postal Address:
Jacob Obrechtstraat 70
1071 KP Amsterdam
The Netherlands