The worldwide spread of HIV/AIDS means that most individuals, families, communities, cultures and nations are faced with an issue that touches some of the most complex aspects of human life. Individual attitudes and practices relating to sex are powerfully shaped by social expectations and pressures. Responding to the spread of HIV/AIDS now requires addressing these social norms. This might include promoting increased openness in families about sexual issues, greater attention to women's perspectives on sexual health and reduced discrimination against people whose sexual practices differ from the public standard.

Each family, community and culture will work out, for itself, the best ways forward. The basis of that difficult task will be increasing the levels of dialogue on sensitive sexual health issues. Effective communication strategies achieving widespread coverage, saturation and longevity can accelerate and support the development of the social movements required for effective action.

Achieving the expanded communication response necessary for effective HIV/AIDS action necessitates rethinking how HIV/AIDS-focused organizations predominantly conceptualize and invest in their communication activities. Presently the most common approach, almost a reflex reaction, is to invest in a communication product such as a video, poster, cartoon strip or public service announcement. In order to achieve the impact required in the face of such a large and complex issue, communication programming needs to accelerate the emerging trend towards strategy development rather than only materials production. 

This has been the pattern for many of the major social and health issues. Independence, civil and women's rights struggles, child health, population, tobacco and abortion programmes, for example, have been fueled by communication strategies that place these issues at the centre of everyday conversation and concern and as a priority for organizations with major communication capacities. Three main elements  resonance, partnerships and linkages - were at the heart of their approaches.

Resonance: gaining an audience's interest

Communication is only effective when it strikes a chord with the population of interest. A vital task in a communication strategy is to establish the tones of that chord  i.e., find out people's opinions, fears, expectations, vested interests and concerns relating to, in this case, HIV/AIDS. Although modern research and communication techniques such as focus groups have been developed, other approaches are also valid. Independence and civil rights leaders, for example, found ways to keep in touch with people and to understand and reflect their perceptions and concerns. 

Partnerships and linkages

The only way to achieve the necessary coverage and impact is to develop partnerships. This requires communication strategies with potential partners to attract their involvement, based on recognition of the perceived benefits to them from effective HIV/AIDS action. These might include higher audience ratings, increased community support, more compelling entertainment, improved public image and long-term protection of markets. The benefits partners perceive for themselves will help them adopt HIV/AIDS as one of their priorities, thus mobilizing their extensive communication capacity into a joint effort. Communication organizations involved in reporting news, producing entertainment, organizing community activities, marketing popular goods and services and organizing major awards programmes, for example, provide partnerships that have scale, relevance, impact and sustainability well beyond the capacity and resources of the HIV/AIDS organization itself.

Finally, communication strategies are required to link partners in ways that help sustain their involvement. Peer recognition of achievement, sharing successes, promoting joint work on difficult challenges and creating a sense of belonging and community among partners, for example, are the essential fuel for sustainable and effective HIV/AIDS communication action.

The resonance, partner and linkage approach will produce larger numbers of better-quality and more accessible communication products as part of the popular and influential mainstream communication systems  including themes for community theatre groups, agenda items for community organizations, plots in popular radio drama, features in newspapers and magazines, and information on the labels and packaging of staple foods.

The strategic approach to planning new products is clearly illustrated by the Soul City programme (Programme Feature). The products must be well researched, provide a vehicle for considering many issues on a long-term basis, and attract and mobilize the communication capacity of new and influential partners.

The other information and ideas communicated in the pages that follow provide important insights into how a social movement communication strategy works in the HIV/AIDS context. Soul City's success is measured by the promotion of interpersonal dialogue. The AIDS Media Center in Indonesia mobilizes and sustains partnerships through the provision of information, ideas and access required by journalists and editors. NGOs working in partnership with newspaper groups facilitate dialogue on sexual health issues. The Bukumbi Hospital programme in Tanzania engages local people to present their perspective on HIV/AIDS as the basis for discussion in their community. Deborah Johnson challenges public service announcements to change their stereotyped images of women and HIV/AIDS, while GAPA-Bahia in Brazil demonstrates ways to keep in touch with people's perceptions and views for more effective communication efforts. And, in itself, the Exchange is part of the organization of communication among colleagues.

Adopting an approach in which communication strategies focus on increasing understanding of people's perspectives, build partnerships and organize communication for learning will make a major contribution to programme action through expanding the scale, quality, impact and sustainability of HIV/AIDS communication action.