Citation

Everett K, Schaay N. AIDS Health Promot. Exch. 1994; (1): 7-8.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12287665

Abstract

Photo-comics are an ideal format for education of South African youth about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) given their low literacy rate and the widespread popularity of comic books. An example of the success of this strategy is "Roxy: Life, Love, and Sex in the Nineties," a comic produced as part of a school-based AIDS prevention program run by the National AIDS Research Program. The comic tells the story of an adolescent girl who learns her friend committed suicide because she was infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Roxy learns about AIDS and discusses the risk factors with her friends. Focus group discussions were used to generate story ideas and pretesting of the comic book took place among several student groups. By July 1993, 30,000 copies of "Roxy" had been distributed to students, churches, youth groups, civic associations, and organizations working with street children. In addition, the comic was reproduced in a magazine, "Upbeat," that is popular among out-of-school youth. Qualitative evaluation through 8 student focus groups revealed that young people from various cultural backgrounds strongly identify with the themes, characters, and situations depicted in "Roxy." Of particular significance were the realistic portrayals of romantic and sexual relationships, relationships with parents, and dilemmas posed by pressures to use drugs and alcohol. The comic includes a sex education chart with concise condom use instructions.

Language: en