The Helping Each other Act Responsibly Together (HEART) campaign, designed for youth by youth, informs young people about HIV/AIDS, promotes abstinence and condom use. The Campaign was designed to provide a social context in which prevailing social norms are discussed, questioned and reassessed. It aimed to contribute to the nation-wide effort to enhance the likelihood that young people would reduce their risk of HIV infection through either abstinence or consistent condom use. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the impact of phase one of the campaign on young people in Zambia.
The authors conclude that, while important progress has been made, there is still much to be done. The HEART Campaign should continue to expand the depth and breadth of its reach. Future research should be designed to capture the synergistic effects of reproductive health programs for young people by asking respondents about their involvement in community-based programs and exposure to the whole gamut of HIV-related mediated messages. However, it should be noted that positive secular changes also occurred over the same time frame that could not be attributed to the campaign, which reflects the synergistic effect of multiple campaigns and interventions. [adapted from author]