Balbir Pasha Phase 2 Campaign

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Balbir Pasha Phase 2 Campaign Highlights Battle Against AIDS

Targets Behaviour Change with Self-Risk Perception Campaign for

HIV/AIDS Prevention

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Thursday, November 18, 2004 --

Population Services International (PSI), India's leading social

marketing, non-governmental organisation today announced the launch

of its self-risk perception campaign, Balbir Pasha Phase 2 in the

city of Mumbai.

The mass media campaign for HIV/AIDS prevention which is being

launched in the month of November will continue till February 2005.

The campaign is spread across 3 phases.

Said Kavita Jayaraman, Communications Manager, PSI, " Phase 2 of the

Balbir Pasha campaign has been evolved from the learnings of Phase

1. Our objective is to reduce the stigma and discrimination

connected with HIV/AIDS and make it easy to discuss. This is

critical to raise the 'risk perception' among men indulging in high

risk behaviour. "

The objective of the Balbir Pasha phase 2 campaign are:

-- To personalize the risk of the HIV/AIDS among those men

practicing high risk sexual behaviour

-- To engage the target group with the issues related to HIV/AIDS

-- To motivate action - in terms of seeking information through the

helpline or visiting the VCT/STI centres

Following our research, the insights being addressed in the present

campaign are:

-- Addressing married men and the risk they put their families into

when they indulge in extra-martial affairs

-- Not wearing a condom is a misplaced sign of being macho

-- Sexual relationships with any non-spousal partner put one at risk

of contracting HIV

Balbir Pasha Phase 2 campaign will tackle issues closely related to

personal risk perception. A wide range of communication channels

will be used to promote this campaign, such as outdoor hoardings,

bus shelters, press, cinema theatres, television, cable and radio.

PSI's innovative integrated intervention, mass media campaign and

behaviour change programme under Operation Light House in the last

two years has exposed the staggering misconceptions surrounding HIV

transmission and risk assessment among the vulnerable population in

the country.

Asserting the need for a direct and targeted campaign, which brings

the HIV/AIDS issue into the public domain, Dr. Shilpa Merchant,

National HIV/AIDS Co-ordinator, PSI said, " The Balbir Pasha phase 1

consumer study indicates that the campaign has brought significant

changes in the social norms amongst the vulnerable population. This

indicates that if on a sustained basis the target group is exposed

to messages on HIV/ AIDS then there will be a positive shift towards

practicing safer sex and less indulgence in high risk behaviour. "

Last year, PSI had successfully launched the Balbir Pasha Phase 1

campaign in the city of Mumbai. The campaign achieved incredible

visibility and reach through a strategically developed mix of

various media. It also helped deliver the HIV/ AIDS messages in a

way that spoke directly to the target consumer as well as brought

the issue of HIV/AIDS out of the closet.

That the campaign created an impact among the target group, was

revealed by an independent research agency TNS MODE. The study

revealed significant behavior changes among the target group:

-- Proportion of target audience who felt at risk for HIV if they

had sex with healthy looking commercial sex workers (CSWs) increased

from 30 % to 56 %; while risk associated with 'expensive' CSWs

increased from 50 % to 72 %.

-- Increase in proportion of individuals reporting last-time condom

usage with CSWs from 87 % to 92 %.

About Population Services International (PSI)

Population Services International (PSI) is an Indian non-profit and

non-governmental organization established in 1988. Its mandate is to

assist the Government of India in the fields of Reproductive Health,

HIV/AIDS prevention, and Maternal & Child Health. PSI utilizes the

technique of social marketing to improve lives. PSI India is

associated with the international non-profit organization,

Population Services International, which operates in over 70

countries across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and North and South

America.

PSI implemented Operation Lighthouse is an integrated HIV/AIDS

prevention programme in partnership with the NACO and USAID in 12

port towns. Some key highlights of the success of the Operation

Lighthouse programme include approaching high-risk individuals

through inter-personal communication activities across 12 ports in

India and opening of Saadhan centres and Helpline facilities across

key ports to provide diagnostic HIV tests and counseling services.

Media contact details

Kavita Jayaraman, Communications Manager,

Population Services International (PSI),

+91 (22) 23096325, +91 (22) 23063187,

kavita@...

Dr. Shilpa Merchant, National HIV/AIDS co-ordinator,

Population Services International (PSI),

+91 (22) 23870883, +91 (22) 23894375,

shilpa@...

Doris Rao/ Allan Rodrigues,

IPAN - Mumbai,

+91 (22) 22661755, +91 (0) 9820183566, (Mobile): Dorris +91 (0)

98201 90278, Allan +91 (0) 9324781559,

doris@...,allan@...

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