The Magnitude of HIV/AIDS Problem vis-à-vis the Number and Nature of Studies on Mass Media Prevention Efforts across the Globe – a Descriptive Review

This paper comprehensively reviewed studies on the utilization of mass media in HIV/AIDS prevention efforts across the globe over the past ten years (2000-2010) and compared the number of studies in the different regions of the world with the regions’ respective magnitude of HIV/AIDS problem. It also attempted to shed some light on the nature of the studies by classifying them based on type, objective, outcome and the type of channel they dealt with. The review showed that most of the studies on the use of mass media in HIV prevention efforts come from three of the ten UNAIDS’ (2009) epidemiologic regions irrespective of the fact that the infection has increasingly become a global health threat. Most of the regions have been found to have very small, negligible number of studies that are not commensurate with the magnitude of their HIV/AIDS problem. The majority of the studies were also found to be neither formative nor summative in type and as such were not an integral part of prevention interventions. The review also revealed that studies are no longer limited to the measurement of knowledge and awareness levels of audiences and have increasingly included measures of mixed outcomes ranging from knowledge change through behaviour changes and their psychological and structural determinants. Moreover, it has been discerned that the majority of the studies reported that the uses of mass media in HIV prevention efforts across regions have been successful in varying degrees, suggesting the great potential of the mass media to enable prevention interventions achieve desired goals in places where they have been employed as campaign strategies.