June 5th marks the 25th anniversary of the day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced the world to the disease that we now know as AIDS. To mark the event, the Kaiser Family Foundation has pulled together a number of AIDS resources and released a report: Evolution of an epidemic: 25 years of HIV/AIDS media campaigns in the US.
The report is divided into five time periods:
1981-1985: A new threat and activist response
1986-1989: The HIV/AIDS PSA is born
1990-1995; Reaching communities at risk
1996-2000: HAART brings hope: But is AIDS over?
2001-2006: Global AIDS
Snapshots of some of the public education campaigns are included in the review including their different approaches, historical context and impact. An Appendix also contains summaries of many other HIV/AIDS campaigns launched with government, voluntary sector, foundation and/or corporate sponsorship over the years.
This document should find its way into many classes and texts on developing sustained and responsive health communication and social marketing campaigns to public health threats. Who knows, maybe a few policy-makers will see it and recognize the value of long term planning and sustained commitment to public education and health marketing initiatives: youth obesity anyone?
Fun Fact of the Day: The first position in the US government with 'social marketing' in its title was at the CDC in their America Responds to AIDS Program. The first person to hold the position was...?
Technorati Tags: Health Communication, HIV/AIDS, Media Campaigns, Public Health, Social Marketing
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