SOCIAL MARKETING IN THE NEWS
Needle Exchange Programme Expected to Begin in January
The needle exchange and condom distribution programme to check the spread of HIV among drug users is expected to start in January.
Meanwhile, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad said the programme must be fully understood to ensure its success.
He said NGOs, the medical fraternity and ministry staff had a role to play in the social marketing of the programme. We want ministry officers to be really skilled in the programme and there will be human resource training. If they do not understand the programme, how can it be implemented successfully?
SYRIA: Raising HIV/AIDS Awareness
A national campaign has recently started to develop awareness among NGOs, social workers and staff at Syria's National AIDS Programme. As part of the new strategy a workshop was recently held to provide more and better information to those tackling the deadly disease.
Societal behaviour change is essential, especially regarding social marketing of condoms and other HIV-related services and supplies, as well as approaching the epidemic seriously at all levels, starting from the national level and down to the local community, according to Dr Gary Gleason, an expert in communication skills, speaking in the capital.
Strengthening current communication with young people in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention is our focus. We are working to improve the knowledge, awareness and behaviour of the most vulnerable and the most high risk groups, Gleason said.
Malaria and US Policy
Malaria will kill 3 million people this year. It's utterly preventable. It's 100 percent treatable. It will kill 3 million children. It's really something to see a child dying of malaria. I've seen a lot of them in the last year dying of malaria. It's the most useless, ridiculous thing in the world, because a pill in the right time would save them, and because every child that I saw dying of malaria had not had the benefit of a $7 bed net.
The United States has not seen fit to give away bed nets. It's seen fit to advertise the sale of bed nets in what's called social marketing. ...[W]e spend all our malaria budget on advertising in Africa rather than giving away bed nets. Our total spending on malaria is $90 million a year. In other words, 25 cents per American. This is not commensurate with a disease which will kill 3 million children, nor is it right to spend the $90 million with $60 million of it being in advertising as opposed to delivery of services.
Meth Task Force Defines Goals
Mass quantities of drugs come through measures like national parcel carriers and we must stay proactive, Crawfordsville Assistant Police Chief Hal Utterback said Tuesday afternoon.
Utterback spoke during the Methamphetamine Prevention Action Meeting in the Crawfordsville Community Center.
Goals worked on during the last meeting included education and training about the meth problem, children of meth users, self-esteem (the weight issue and meth is not an answer), social marketing the meth effects, networking (access to treatment and removing the stigma), neighbors against drugs, conflict resolution for teens and young adults, tracking precursors, removing access to anhydrous and contamination of property.
[Editor Note: For more on meth issues, see July 6 NYT]
Local officials from across the country yesterday declared methamphetamine the nation's leading law enforcement scourge - a more insidious drug problem than cocaine - and blamed it for crowding jails and fueling increases in theft and violence, as well as for a host of social welfare problems.
[And this Washington Blade Opinion Column]
A survey released at the conference of 19,000 gay men at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center showed that methamphetamine use jumped from 5.8 percent in 2001 to 10.3 percent in 2004.
Among gay men who are HIV positive, the percentage of crystal meth users went from 11.7 percent to 30.2 percent — almost one third.
Hubba Hubba - The Message is Getting Through
A recent survey carried out in Hawke’s Bay found that 100% of the young people surveyed knew about the Ministry of Health’s No Rubba - No Hubba Hubba advertisement, and could recall that the message was to wear a condom if you are having sex.
The No Rubba - No Hubba Hubba ad campaign, which started over summer, is playing again due to the great response from youth to the campaign and a very positive national evaluation. Nationally, half of those surveyed said they were more likely to use condoms as a result of the advertising. 97% of those surveyed were able to recall the advertisement and message and 65% had talked to a friend about the ads.
Shari said this reinforced the fact that sticking to one clear message is the best strategy when carrying out social marketing campaigns. Having the target audience involved in the whole process has also paid dividends, as these ads have ‘cut through’ to youth, who can be hard to reach via mainstream mediums such as television.
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