Effects of an AIDS Awareness Campaign on Knowledge about AIDS in a Remote Rural Area of Bangladesh

Abstract

The article reports the process of carrying out an AIDS awareness campaign, and its effect on the villagers' knowledge about AIDS in a remote rural area of Bangladesh. The campaign was carried out on the occasion of the “Worlds AIDS Day, 1996,” by the volunteers of the village-based traditional self-help organizations. Surveys were carried out both before and after the campaign. As for the effectiveness of the program, the campaign was effective insofar as only managing to familiarize the word “AIDS” among the villagers. It did not succeed in creating an impact on the knowledge about transmission, prevention, and high-risk behavior. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents in the post-intervention survey reported having heard about AIDS compared to 19 percent in the pre-intervention survey. The improvement in knowledge was somewhat similar across all gender, age, and religious groups. The effect of the campaign was greater among illiterate respondents, having relatively smaller effect on the educated respondents. The findings suggest that awareness-raising activities about AIDS can be carried out in conservative Bangladeshi villages in a participatory manner. However, a content-focused approach will be needed to make such a program more effective.