Country in Need of ParticipACTION
It was more than 30 years ago that a comparison of physical activity levels between a 60-year-old Swede and a 30-year-old Canadian sparked a national uproar that highlighted low physical activity levels in Canada.
ParticipACTION — the social marketing genius behind this claim — became a household name. ParticipACTION brought attention to the epidemic of physical inactivity in Canada and challenged Canadians to get moving throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s. Using a fun, playful and humorous approach, their social marketing campaigns motivated and supported a generation of Canadians to get physically active…
Next week in Ottawa, sport and recreation ministers from across Canada will gather for our annual meeting. I will be urging the federal government to initiate the relaunch of this effective campaign in partnership with the private sector, provinces and territories.
[Ed Note: More about ParticpACTION at their archive.]
Uganda Targeted for Payback?
Things were going well in the fight against AIDS in Uganda, a country which has dramatically reduced its infection rates by stressing abstinence and monogamy.
But that progress has angered the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, so much so that some family advocates say the group has targeted Uganda for payback.
The Geneva-based group, self-described as a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities, recently investigated misappropriation of Global Fund money by Ugandan government officials. While that investigation has identified corruption, some question why it was launched in the first place…
"What we do know about the Global Fund," Klepacki said, "is it's supporting legalized prostitution, abortion, needle-exchange programs and massive condom social marketing and distribution around the world."
Report: Meth labs, 'Hot' Tests Drop
Wyoming is
fighting meth with a number of initiatives:
- The Legislature approved an increase of nearly $4 million over the next two years for the state Division of Criminal Investigation...
- Starting in July, the DCI will receive the bulk of its money from the state's general fund. The department previously relied on federal grants, which were cut suddenly last year by the Bush administration. The DCI budget includes funding for the state's 11 drug task force offices…
- The state also will roll out a new meth awareness campaign this fall, Maki said. The social marketing campaign will focus on prevention, treatment and awareness and largely will be based at the local level.
Oakland Launches New HIV Prevention Campaign
"I Am Worth It" was unveiled last week at a community health fair. The social marketing campaign is the result of a $500,000 grant from the Alameda County Office of AIDS Administration, according to Joe Hawkins, director of administration with the AIDS Project of the East Bay…
Hawkins said APEB held interviews and focus groups with hundreds of individuals to gain insight on how the new prevention campaign might best target the community. A study conducted by Cal State East Bay shows that 46 percent of the people infected with HIV/AIDS in Alameda County are African American men who have sex with men.
"In San Francisco, prevention campaigns are usually very sexually explicit. The information we received from individuals here is that most did not want to go in that direction," said Hawkins. "Our studies showed that most felt our prevention information campaign should be more spiritual, more neutral."
Hawkins said the ads that make up the campaign would be placed on billboards, on the sides of buses, and air on the radio.
New Syphilis Prevention Campaign
The San Francisco Department of Public Health is launching its "Buck
Syphilis" campaign, a new social marketing effort to promote syphilis
awareness among gay and bisexual men.
After the successful Healthy Penis campaign (that has now moved to Santa Clara County in the South Bay), which led to dramatic increases in screenings and a decline in new syphilis cases, the Buck Syphilis campaign promotes the notion that syphilis testing be viewed as an easy part of general health maintenance.
Technorati Tags: Health Communication, Health Education, HIV/AIDS, Methamphetamine, ParticipACTION, Physical Activity, Social Marketing, Syphilis
Comments