COMMUNICATION AND BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE: A STUDY OF PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION ON THE AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS ON HIV/AIDS

IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

In this study an attempt was made to examine whether communication have effect on people’s behavioural change especially on the perception on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

Questions were administered among randomly sampled respondents from the study population. The data obtain was analyzed using table some findings was formulated to direct the study were accepted.

Thus, there is significant of mass media communication do people perception on HIV/AIDS and increasing their knowledge about HIV/AIDS, raising awareness of personal risk factor and also teaches vulnerable individuals the skill need to reduce risky behaviours. 

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY     

          Communication is activities of conveying information as by speech, visuals, signals, writing or behavior; it is the meaningful exchange of information between two or more people or a group of people.

          From the creation of the world, there has being endless needs to inform people about one thing or the other and this shows that communication has become an inseparable part of our lives. Communication has variously defined by many communication experts, erudite scholars and educationists with each of them defining it in accordance with his field of studies, area (s) of interest and prejudices. This accounts for why there has not been one singular acceptable definition of what communication presupposes.

          For instance, it has been viewed as an act of sending or conveying understandable information from the sender to the receiver through an appropriate channel, with the speaker hearer responding to such a message in the form of feedback.

          Communication has equally been defined as a mean of establishing commonness with someone which involves the giving of an understandable message from one person to another through a desirable and adequate channel or medium which the sender has considered fit to be suitable to both the sender, the occasion and of course, the purpose.

          Ajibade (1994) maintain, that “Communication is the generation and attribution of meaning”. Generation starts from the speaker who encodes the communication message in the way that the receiver must understand”.

          According to James Platt “Communication is the process through which individuals observes stimuli through the drawing of references with or without observable concomitant physical responses”.

          Dean Barlund maintains that “Communication arises out of the need to reduce uncertainty to act effectively to define or strengthen the ego”. He further state that the aim of communications is to increase the number and consistency of meanings within the limits set by patterns of evaluations that have proven successful in the past.

          Murphy (1977) defines communication as an exchange of meaning by which one mind affect another, according to him communication is information that register somewhere in the mental structure of the receiver.

          The essential of communication are certain fundamental ingredients which are necessary for communication to take. They are not just essential in the communication process, but also inevitable and compulsory. These elements include knowing who is communicating, what he is communicating, or encoding, the person with whom he is communicating, and of course the channel or the medium he is employing in communicating. Communication may not take place or be effective at best until these components are present and interact effectively among themselves.

          Two communication experts, Shannon and Weaver in 1974 identified five basic communication elements or ingredients; these are source, transmitter, signal, receiver and destination. The Shannon Weaver model has been found useful in describing human communication.

          Nigeria faces a high burden of AIDS with more than three million people already infected with HIV. Other than a slight decrease from 5.8% in 2001 to 5.0% in 2003, the country’s HIV zero prevalence rate has increased progressively since the first case was officially disclosed in 1986. The epidemiologic pattern of HIV infection with sexual behavior, used of contaminated skin piecing instruments and mother-to-child transmission as the principal modes of transmission clearly indicates that behavior modification is central to HIV prevention. The current absence of curative immunological, pharmacological, and related medical interventions against HIV/AIDS make behavioral interventions more critical than for many other diseases of public health importance. To ensure maximum impact behavioral interventions must be examined critically and avenues for strengthening them within national programs and community initiative must be continuously sought.

          Evidence from the successful experience of Uganda indicates that appropriate sexual behavior modification can produce a positive impact equivalent to that of a vaccine with an effectiveness of 80% following their view of the decline of (HIV in Tailand, Zambia and the gay community in the United States, stone burner and low. Beer argued that Uganda is not unique and the successful experiences share several basic elements “the continuum of communication, behavior change, and care”. These success stories stimulates interest in ensuring that HIV related communication programs are sound in concept and produce the desired behavior changes that will halt the spread of HIV and eventually reverse its impact at the population level.

          Ever since the first case of AIDS registered in 1982, the epidemic has continued to be on the increased. For instance, an estimated 5.1% to 5.4% of the population has been infected with HIV/AIDS by 1999 and by 2006, 6.1 million of 140 million population is living with HIV/AIDS. The situation becomes worrisome as the number of people with the disease is expected to grow significantly by the end of 2010. Despite the pandemic nature of HIV/AIDS, it was not until 2000 that the Nigeria government recognized HIV/AIDS as a major health problem (FRN 2000). Unfortunately, this was not immediately matched with intensified campaign on HIV/AIDS by government at all level. However, the recent happenings indicates government sudden interest  in fighting the scourge government mounted aggressive campaign in media and posted bills boards in cities and high ways, sensitive song on the danger of the disease, modes of transmission and prevention. There are also responses from. Despite several efforts by government and non-government organization to address the problem, it is dis-hearted to note that the rate of infection is still very high.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

          This study is solely concern with examine the effects of behavioral change on people perception of HIV/AIDS awareness campaign.

          HIV/AIDS is a major health problem, in 2006; Nigeria recorded 6.1 million of 140 million populations living with the disease. One is left wondering if people are aware of the disease and if various campaigns on HIV/AIDS have impact on them. HIV/AIDS remains incurable and devastates many communities and nations. Since the first reported case in the united state in 1981, it has spread unremittingly to virtually every country in the world. The number of people living with the virus has raised from 10 million in 1991 to 33 million in 2007; they were 2.7 million new infections and 2 million HIV related deaths. Globally, about 45% of new infected occurred among young people (age 5.24).

          Africa remains the most affected region in the world. Sub-Saharan Africa, which has just over 10% of the world’s population, is home to two-thirds of all people living with HIV and three quarter of all AIDs death (1.5 million deaths) in 2007.

          Nigeria was awakened from its state of disbelief about the presence of the virus is the country by the late Olikoye Ransome Kuti. There is therefore a need to check if really communication through awareness campaign induces behavior or change in behavior in the society.

1.3    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objectives of this study are:

-      To show the different various means of mass media employed to disseminate information about the disease (HIV/AIDS)

-      To educate the audience on how to reduce the spread of the disease.

-      To show the extent of awareness of the disease to audience through the mass media.

-      To show the positive impact of HIV/AIDS campaigns have on the audience.

-      To enlighten the audience the consequence of the disease (HIV/AIDS)

-      To show effectiveness of the various means of disseminating information about the disease.

1.4    RESEARCH QUESTIONS

          The question of this research word intends to address:

-      How frequent are the campaigns on HIV/AIDS in the media?

-      To what extent are the people informed in the scourge?

-      What are the various mass media employed to disseminating information on the scourge?

-      What impact do the campaigns have on the audience?

-      How effective are the mass media campaigns to reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS?

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will increase the knowledge on HIV/AIDS, raise awareness of personal risk factor, and teach vulnerable individuals the skill needed to reduce risk behaviors.

          It will motivate individuals to adapt and continue safe behaviors. It will increase the use of appropriate HIV prevention and care services by both infected and uninfected person. It also reduced the fear and stigmatization of association with HIV/AIDS.

It aims at increasing acceptance and ownership of HIV/AIDS programs by the community and advocate to mobilize and increase resources for HIV/AID prevention and care program at community and government levels.

It aims at increasing the use of appropriate HIV/AIDS prevention and care services by both infected and uninfected person. It will help to reduced the fear and stigmatization often associated with HIV/AIDS.

1.6    SCOPE OF THE STUDY

          This study focuses on communication and behavioral changes of people perceptions towards HIV/AIDS awareness campaign using different form of mass media like Television, Radio bill board, postal etc.

1.7    DEFINITION OF THE KEY TERMS

- COMMUNICATION: refers to the exchange and flow of international and ideals from one person to another it involves a sender transmitting an idea, information or feeling to a receiver.

Dean Barland maintain that “communication arise out of the need to reduced uncertainty, to act effectively to define or strengthen the ego”.

Oxford advance learner’s dictionary defines communication as the activity or process of expressing idea and feelings or of giving people information.

-      BEHAVIORAL: The way a person, an animal, a plant, a chemical etc. believes or functions in a particular situation.

-      CHANGE: to make somebody or something different or to express a different opinion or behave in a different way from before. (Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary).

          Therefore, behavioral change refers to a broad range of activities and approaches which focus on the individual, community and environment influence on behavior.

-      AWARENESS: Is the state or ability to perceive to feel or to be sensory pattern. Oxford advanced learner’s Dictionary define awareness as “knowing that something exist and it’s important”.

-      PERCEPTION: Merrian Websters’s dictionary reefer’s to perception as “the way you think about or understand someone or something”.

Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary refers to perception as “an idea, belief or an image you have as a result of how you see or understand something”.

Perception is more subject to the influence of learning through hearing, smell, touch and tastes.   

-      CAMPAIGN: An operation or series of operation energetically pursued to accomplish a purpose. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary refer to campaign as a series of planned activities that are intended to achieve a particular social, commercial or political aim.

HIV/AIDS: Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary refers to HIV as the abbreviation for Human Immune Deficiency Virus (the virus that can cause AIDS) and AIDS as the abbreviation for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (An illness which attacks the body’s ability to resist infection and which usually casually cause death)