From On Air - Winter 2003

New Book Trumpets Entertainment Education to Fight HIV/AIDS

On November 25, PCI hosted a forum at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to discuss the latest research on how entertainment-education programs prove effective in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
David Andrews moderated a panel discussion, entitled “HIV Education: What’s Working,” that included Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Ph.D., executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and Arvind Singhal, Ph.D., and Everett Rogers, Ph.D., authors of the recently published book Combating AIDS: Communication Strategies in Action.

This groundbreaking book reveals new information on entertainment-education programs, like PCI’s radio and TV soap operas, that are creating behavioral change to stop the spread of HIV.

“The good news is we know what works in stopping HIV.”

-Dr. Arvind Singhal

At the forum, Dr. Singhal and Dr. Rogers shared specific examples from their book to illustrate how mixing HIV prevention messages with serial dramas has emerged as a proven model with significant results in the fight against HIV infection.

“The good news is we know what works in stopping HIV,” says Singhal. “Information and public awareness are critical, but they’re not enough—the only way to prevent HIV is to change behavior.” He notes that the key to success is reaching people “within the context of their culture and day-to-day lives.”

Co-author Rogers underscored Singhal’s perspective. “In the absence of a cure, the mixing of entertainment and education, once viewed as exclusive of each other, is now an effective formula for social change—so effective, in fact, that it’s saving lives.”

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