Reference no: EM133318181

Case Study: Executive Summary HIV/AIDS has reached epidemic proportions in the Caribbean. The Caribbean is the second most affected region in the world after Sub-Sahara Africa. At the present rate of acceleration more than half of the Caribbean's potential workforce may be wiped out within the next 25 years if this deadly disease is not arrested. One of the countries with the highest rate of HIV/AIDS cases in the region is the Bahamas. With the second highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in adults, the Bahamas is estimated to have a prevalence rate above 4 percent. Haiti is classified as the only more distressed country in the region with a prevalence rate above 7 percent. In 1985, the Bahamas recorded its first AIDS case. Three years later, the Bahamian government, with the creation of its National AIDS Program (NAP), began health promotion and information campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles, educate the public about HIV/AIDS and inform people about methods of prevention. In 1988 NAP established the Bahamas AIDS Secretariat to coordinate and implement the promotion and information/education campaigns. The AIDS Secretariat serves as the national coordinating body for all information dealing with HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. Over the past 18 years the Bahamian government, through the Ministry of Health, has recorded a number of successes including a dramatic drop in mother-to-child transmission of AIDS, a decline in the overall mortality rate, an overall decrease in new persons testing HIV positive (from 700 plus in 1994 to 350 plus in 1999) and fewer than 2.0 percent of antenatal clinic clients continuing to be HIV positive. Because of these successes, the Bahamian model for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS is considered a success. (Caribbean AIDS Telecommunication Information Network) However, despite these successes, the country still has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the English speaking Caribbean. Further, it is not known what impact the public communication (information/education) health campaigns have had on the target audience(s). Unfortunately, because of budget constraints, many of these campaigns were never evaluated. This lack of assessment continues today and has raised many questions about the effectiveness of the messages. Perhaps what is more alarming is the recent increase in HIV/AIDS among the adolescent age group, the future productive members of Bahamian society. Their lack of knowledge about the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS raises several crucial questions about campaign design and execution, benchmarking and pre-test and post-test of message design. This case study discusses the Bahamian HIV/AIDS promotion and information/education campaigns and addresses the issues surrounding the design and implementation of public health communication campaigns in developing countries with serious health crises. The purpose of this case study is to emphasize the importance of evaluation and assessment of the messages of public information/education campaigns even when there are financial constraints and limited resources. Knowing how effective your messages are in reaching your target audience(s) could be the difference between limited successes in health campaigns like HIV/AIDS and complete eradication of these health calamities. This case study demonstrates the need to evaluate campaign messages so that limited resources are used efficiently and effectively and audience behavior and attitudes are effectively monitored. When the effect/impact of messages is not evaluated, campaign organizers limit their ability to adjust or adapt the messages for more meaningful actions from the target public.

Question: Which are the most relevant PR issues presented above?