The National HIV Communication Survey

There are many HIV communication campaigns running in South Africa and many have overlapping objectives. However, funders need to know whether these campaigns are working, in which areas they are working, and what to continue with and what to stop or change.

Saul Johnson and Sarah Magni have been responsible for three national surveys, which have measured exposure to various communication programmes, as well as knowledge, attitudes and sexual behaviour linked to the HIV epidemic. Each of these surveys has had a sample of around 10 000 adult South Africans.

The surveys have been instrumental in showing how well-considered and constructed communications programmes can have a direct and indirect effect on curbing the HIV epidemic. The results have been widely used by donors and government departments, and were presented by the Minister of Health in Washington DC.