Zimbabwe AIDS prevention and control

The project consists of two major components: (1) IEC for behavior modification among high-risk groups; and (2) policy dialogue and information dissemination. The project will be implemented by Family Health International (via an agreement with the AIDSCAP project--9365972), by Zimbabwe"s National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), and for activities in tertiary educational institutions, by UNICEF. IEC activities will be implemented mostly through local organizations whose programs are targeted to specific occupational groups: commercial sex workers, truckers, farmworkers, military personnel, and university students and teachers. Three basic approaches will be used: (1) encouraging management to establish HIV-related policies (such as support for community-based prevention efforts), provide condoms, and create a supportive environment for behavior modification; (2) selecting leaders from labor and management to become peer educators and motivators, inside and outside the workplace; and (3) developing IEC interventions at places where targeted groups gather (bars, restaurants, sporting events), with emphasis on reaching families. The project will also make special efforts to identify ways to increase male-female communication on HIV/AIDS. Support will include a KAP survey. Condoms will not be procured under the project, although efforts will be made to improve their distribution. The second component will support both policy dialogue and media efforts to disseminate information about HIV. Policy-related activities, to be implemented directly by NACP, will target opinion makers from the religious, NGO, business, traditional, and government communities, and will encourage their attention to critical policy areas such as confidentiality, pre-employment screening, paternity laws, sexual harassment, the position of women under customary law, condom distribution to minors, etc. Strategies for influencing the leaders will include computer models, booklets, and videos to project the impact of AIDS over the next 20 years, convocation of leaders from various walks of life, planning workshops, policy dialogue meetings for senior personnel, and a specialized newsletter. Efforts to increase media coverage of AIDS issues will include assessments of media reporting on the subject and training programs with intensive follow-up activities for reporters, editors, and media management. The project will also establish a Research and Rapid Response Fund to pursue studies related to the above two components.