The Art of the Message
Mass-media public health communication programs deliver lifesaving messages to millions, often for pennies a person. The best endeavors compare with anything from the advertising industry, but their messages are so much more important. Here are six very different but equally memorable and effective campaigns from around the world.
- Sexto Sentido – Nicaragua
Dates: 2002-present
Cost: $20,000 to produce each episode
Mass Media: In the television and radio drama Sexto Sentido (“Sixth Sense”) young people work through crises about sex, HIV, gender roles and sexuality. The show runs widely in Central America and the U.S.
Changes: Within three years, 91 percent of young urban Nicaraguans had seen the program. Regular watchers knew more about HIV, condom use and many other issues. For example, condom usage for casual sex was 56% more likely for male viewers than for male nonviewers. - The Egyptian National Control of Diarrheal Diseases Project
Dates: 1982-1991
Cost: $43 million total (media campaign plus all other program costs)
Mass Media: Popular Egyptian actress Karima Mokhtar starred in the first of a six-year series of television spots promoting the use of oral rehydration salts (ORS). Combined with radio,
billboard and poster advertisements the campaign saturated the country.
Changes: After 1985, nearly all Egyptian mothers knew that ORS fights diarrheal dehydration. Infant and child diarrheal death rates dropped sharply. - United Kingdom AIDS education campaign
Dates: 1986-1987
Cost: ~$130 million over eight years for the public education program, which included the mass media campaign
Mass Media: The British Department of Health reached virtually the entire nation with the still-famous “Tombstone” television spot voiced by John Hurt, an AIDS education pamphlet delivered to every postal address and a week of explicit informational programming on safer-sex practices.
Changes: New diagnoses of HIV dropped 39 percent from 1985 to 1988. Gonorrhea and syphilis infection rates fell steeply as well. - California Tobacco Control Program
Dates: 1990-present
Cost: Media campaign averaging $16 million annually, funded by a tax on tobacco products
Mass Media: State-funded television and print advertising attacked tobacco companies directly, a remarkably bold tactic for 1990. Two weeks after its launch, the campaign had reached two-thirds of California adults.
Changes: In the first five years of the program, per capita cigarette sales in California fell 24 percent compared with a 10 percent drop nationally. - Uganda Family Planning Revitalization Campaign
Dates: 2007-2009
Cost: $1.2 million over three years for the campaign, which includes the mass media component
Mass Media: “Neighbors” radio serial and posters aimed to get men to take responsibility for family planning. Local comedians portrayed hapless “Fred,” father of seven, and neighbor “Bernard,” who has three children and fewer headaches.
Changes: Program ran in six languages and reached 15 percent of adults 18-35; of those, more than half surveyed said they had decided to have a smaller family. - Nepal Radio Communication Project
Dates: 1995-2001
Cost: $350 per program
Mass Media: Two radio serials: “Service brings reward” provided education for healthcare workers in remote areas while building trust in the healthcare system. “Cut your coat according to your cloth” modeled family planning and prenatal care.
Changes: Women exposed to the program were 38 percent more likely to start using contraception and had more positive attitudes about reproductive healthcare.
