Page 131 - Social Marketing for Public Health Global Trends and Success Stories

57977_CH04_final.qxd:Cheng 11/5/09 4:38 PM Page 104

104 CHAPTER 4 ■ Love, Sex, and HIV/AIDS

the JPEG campaign and Programs H and M in
the public education sector in Brazil and India”
(Christine Ricardo, Instituto Promundo, per-
sonal communication, August 20, 2008).
Although the alliance members are pleased
that results of gender-equality programs indi-
cate that cultural change and subsequent HIV
prevention are possible, they agree there is
much to be done to continue the momentum
of this global movement.
In Mexico, the country’s leaders put that
FIGURE 4-10 Mexico City welcomed more nation in the forefront of the global HIV/
than 20,000 delegates to the global
dialogue about curbing HIV/AIDS. AIDS dialogue by hosting the biannual XVII
International AIDS Conference that attracted
Photo courtesy of Ruta Reproductions
more than 20,000 to Mexico City in August
2008. (See Figure 4-10.) This was both a political and an economic commitment
for Mexico, which was only the third developing country to host the conference.
The Mexican government contributed $4 million of the $25 million cost of the
conference, almost twice as much as the Canadian government donated for the
2006 conference in Toronto (Sanchez, 2008).
In a country like Mexico, where pesos are precious, this budget is a significant
admission that HIV/AIDS is a critical issue that must be publicly addressed before
the “underground epidemic” claims more victims. Investing in social marketing
initiatives has yielded promising results, but there is still much more to do to en-
sure that love plus sex does not equal AIDS for Mexico’s youth.

QU ESTIONS F OR DISCUS S ION

1. How are machismo and homophobia fueling Mexico’s HIV/AIDS epidemic? Is
this true in other countries as well?
2. What are below-the-line communication techniques? Try to think of some
specific ways BTL might be effective in social marketing campaigns aimed at
Mexican youth.
3. Which components of Programs H and M make the campaigns adaptable for
use in other countries and cultures?
4. How many of the cultural norms discussed in this chapter are traditions in
your own family or social circle? How have these beliefs affected the life choices
of people you know?