Supporting Youth - Broadening the approach to HIV/AIDS prevention programmes - HIVAN booklet

The aim of many HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns is to pass on information. Yet, even with the right information, many young people do not take steps to protect themselves from infection. As a result, they are often blamed for the problems facing HIV/AIDS prevention.

This booklet argues that blaming youth is not fair. Very often, young people live in social environments that prevent them from taking control of their sexual health. It is these social environments that need to change along with individual people.

To this end, the booklet contains an examination of three questions:

• How do social environments inhibit young people from engaging in safer sex?
• What factors in a community get in the way of successful implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention programmes?
• How can people concerned with youth HIV-prevention work creatively address these issues, and plan programmes with a broader approach?


A case-study of community responses to HIV/AIDS management in South Africa is used as a basis for the booklet. It was conducted by Catherine Campbell, Carol-Ann Foulis, Sbongile Maimane and Zweni Sibiya, of the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking (HIVAN) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in partnership with the local branch of an internationally funded, youth-focused NGO.

Whilst the booklet draws on a single case-study to make its points, it outlines a generalisable model of ?“Six essential components for successful HIV/AIDS prevention programmes?”. This will be useful for anyone interested in working with young people to protect their sexual health ?– through facilitating the development of social environments that support young peoples?’ efforts to protect their sexual health.

Useful websites:


• HIVAN website: hivan.org.za
• Professor Catherine Campbell?’s personal webpage at the London School of Economics - please click on the hyperlink on the righthand side of this page.


Further reading: Letting them die ?– How HIV/AIDS prevention programmes often fail by Catherine Campbell, 2003. Published by The International African Institute in association with James Currey (Oxford) / Indiana University Press (Bloomington) / Double Storey Books (a Juta Company, Cape Town).

The booklet can be downloaded on the righthand side of this page