The PSI BCC Blog

In French (and Naughty)

Those of us who work in francophone countries spend a lot of time bemoaning the lack of good BCC resources in French (or maybe that's just me?). For some great examples of french-language HIV communication, see the AIDES campaign page, which includes spots and print materials from the organization's work over the last ten years. Some of the spots may offend (and others may not be safe for work), but all push the envelope in terms of creativity. Of interest to those of you who work in Africa is "The Village", an advocacy PSA that won AIDES the Golden Lion award at Cannes in 2003.  

Other sources for French BCC include the JHUCCP Media and Materials Clearinghouse and the PSI BCC Catalog. Both are great resources - the MMC tends to have older materials, but covers a broader range of health areas and materials from different organizations, while the BCC Catalog (currently being updated and upgraded) has newer materials from PSI.

What are your favorite communication resources in French?

SCRUTINIZE Campaign Launched

SCRUTINIZE, a new multimedia campaign targeting South African young people aged 18-32, offers an interactive opportunity to learn about HIV. By scrutinizing behaviors, as viewed in short animated commercials known as “animerts,” young people can challenge their preconceived notions and established beliefs concerning risky behavior. These animerts will be broadcast on local television and in public health clinics via Mindset Health television. The campaign will also conduct events and activities at five higher education institutions.

Created in partnership with USAID, the Johns Hopkins Health Education in South Africa (JHHESA), and jeans label Levi's, SCRUTINIZE depicts animated characters in a South African township enacting behaviors that place young people at risk of HIV infection. Some of the topics addressed are risk perception, condom use and safety, multiple concurrent partnerships, transactional and intergenerational sex, and alcohol and sex.

The SCRUTINIZE website provides an interactive forum that allows users to submit summaries of events and community activities, along with pictures, which will be posted on the website. Similarly, certain characters in the animerts have established Facebook sites which encourage young people, particularly in South Africa, to benefit from the social networking of Facebook.

The SCRUTINIZE campaign has plans to broaden its features and will continually update the website with lively material in the interest of “flip[ping] H.I.V. to H.I.Victory.”

Guest blogger Jason Walton is a PSI HIV Department consultant and new media enthusiast.