Illustrating how to prevent the spread of HIV

In an earlier post, Lives in Focus featured a prevention program called ASHA (“Hope”), which provides education to young women who are considered at risk because they have little or no education and are likely to be married at a young age.

The program stresses the need for peer counselors to visit people in their own communities rather than bringing them to an office. Another component to this outreach is the use of educational material that requires no literacy skills.

In an age of menu-driven DVD tutorials, simple, culturally recognizable illustrations are effective and inexpensive instructional tools. This series features several scans of the educational material that show how HIV spreads, how to protect oneself, and what adjustments one can make to remain healthy despite being HIV+.

Related Previous Posting: Prevention v. Treatment

One Response to “Illustrating how to prevent the spread of HIV”

  1. Dear Sandeep,
    I came across your posting on the AIDS-India mailing list, and want
    to congratulate you on the development of the cartoons and materials.
    We have developed similar materials (that can be downloaded from
    http://www.sahaya.org/cartoons.html ) that may also be useful for you to
    further complement your excellent materials.
    We have had similar experiences like you, that simple cartoons and
    materials can be very effective to convey messages to people with
    limited literacy. In contrast to the high-tech work that many like to work on, it are the simple things like flipcharts and booklets often
    work the best.

    Thanks again for the good work.
    Best regards,
    Koen Van Rompay
    USA