‘Eating a Ripe Banana with Its Skin On’: Health Education Campaigns against STDs and HIV/AIDS in Mbozi District, Tanzania, 1980-2010

Abstract

This historical study assesses health education campaigns against sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS in Mbozi District, Tanzania, between 1980 and 2010. Archival and oral data collected in Mbozi from 2008 to 2010 reveal that the campaigns have not had the intended impact of preventing the spread of the diseases. This is in part because the campaigns do not take into account the prevailing socio-economic and cultural contexts. Nevertheless, there is an increase of public awareness of sexually transmitted diseases and a slight change of sexual behaviour. Thus, to improve on the current campaigns, the stakeholders who are involved in intervention campaigns against sexually transmitted diseases should take into account the socio-economic and cultural environment.