Photo: PSI/Chris Castle
Two men discuss Balbir Pasha’s fate in a still image from a campaign commercial.
Calls to a HIV/AIDS hotline featured in the campaign increased by 250%. More than half of the survey respondents had talked about a Balbir Pasha advertisement with friends, family or colleagues.
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Initiative
USAID is helping implement an innovative and aggressive HIV/AIDS education and awareness campaign in twelve major port communities across India to dispel widespread myths surrounding HIV/AIDS. The program’s goal is to open channels of communication, enabling those at high risk of infection to learn how to steer clear of the disease.
In Mumbai, the program showcases an advertisement campaign with Balbir Pasha, a fictional character which young, urban men can relate to, learn from, and empathize with. Presented in an approachable and familiar manner, Balbir Pasha personalizes HIV risk and brings the topic of HIV/AIDS into the open.
Through the multimedia campaign, Balbir is portrayed in a series of identifiable, real-life situations in which he runs the risk of contracting HIV. Scenarios concern the use of alcohol and forgetting to use a condom, the mistaken belief that having a regular partner means one is safe from HIV/AIDS infection, and the misconception that if one’s partner looks healthy, he or she must be free of HIV/AIDS.
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