THAILAND, Zaire and Switzerland have shown the effectiveness of applying health education principles and behaviour change strategies in the fight against AIDS, according to James Mullally of the WHO/Global AIDS Programme.

The "all condom policy" in Thailand's sex industry successfully got brothels and prostitutes to persuade clients to use condoms. Brothels were either fined or closed if they did not comply with the rules to provide condoms and clients could not go to other brothels if they did not want to use condoms. The result: Use of condoms in brothels increased from 15,000 to over 50,000 in one month and sexually transmitted infections among sex workers dropped from 13 per cent to less than 1 per cent.

Zaire developed a media campaign to promote condom use among sexually active adults. The campaign used radio and TV producers to collaborate and educate listeners in their local language about the consequences of HIV infection. Free condoms were provided to distributors, which enabled them to make money through sales. Condoms were made available not only in health centres but also in hotels, bars, companies and local clubs. Within six months, the number of married people claiming to be loyal to their spouses went up from 28 per cent to over 45 per cent. The number of condoms sold increased from 100,000 in 1988 to over 18 million in 1991.

Switzerland's "Stop AIDS Programme" used the media to promote localised messages that were translated into four languages. More than 60 per cent of the population had actually read the messages. Condom use rose from 9 per cent to 73 per cent among students and it was found there was no increase in promiscuity or casual sex among the youth. The finding backed earlier studies that showed education and condoms do not stimulate promiscuity but actually make people take decisions more carefully, thereby reducing casual sex.