Impact and cost-effectiveness of the scrutinize communication campaign on condom use in South Africa

Scrutinize is a social and behaviour communication change (SBCC) campaign created in partnership with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Johns Hopkins Health Education in South Africa (JHHESA), and designer jeans label Levi's that aims to encourage and equip young people to take responsibility to reduce their risk of HIV infection. It uses animated township characters who illustrate daily life encounters that place young people at risk of HIV infection. The animert communicating the risk of HIV infection in the first 6 weeks after infection was found to be effective with regard to partner reduction - particularly with young males. Furthermore, young people with a higher degree of exposure to Scrutinize were more likely to use condoms than those not exposed to Scrutinize. This was particularly true for young men. http://www.jhhesa.org/docs/scrutinize_condom.pdf