The AIDS
Problem 1
There were approximately twenty to thirty thousand commercial sex workers, simply defined in the Indian society as prostitutes within a ten block radius of the red-light district. This was of utmost concern for PSI as an estimated three quarters of infections was attributed to sex with the commercial sex workers.
Proposed Solution
The best approach in this situation is to establish Voluntary Counseling and Testing centers (VCTs) that operate at night around bars, brothels, notorious prostitute streets, and lodging premises around Mumbais Red-Light district. The Testing centers should be located in places with less traffic but secure to enable the individual who want to be tested not to be discouraged by insecurity. Necessary personnel like security officers who lent premises to the prostitutes with their clients at night for sexual encounters should also be used to identify commercial sex workers.
Assumptions
Assuming that the VCTs staff cooperates with the security personnel many prostitutes will be identified, tested and counseled. By knowing their status and armed with the right information, commercial sex workers will be able to make the right decisions in sexual encounters for instance, insisting on wearing a condom. This will curb the pandemic to a very large extent.
Assuming that the VCTs centers are run at night, many commercial sex workers are likely to participate in the program as they will be safeguarded from the risk of stigmatization. This is absolutely critical as the prevalent view that is hypothesized to be held in the population of the red-light district in Mumbai is preempted to be all those who visit the VCTs are infected with AIDS.
Assuming that the VCT centers are located near brothels, bars, night clubs or notorious prostitute streets, they are likely to target the epicenters of the high risk groups thus leading to many of the most critical segment of the population being empowered with necessary information about AIDS as well as their status. This will be a success as those that are infected will not engage in unprotected sexual encounters thus spreading the disease even more. Moreover those that will be found to be HIV-negative will take necessary precautions to avoid infection.
Problem 2
Perhaps the most complex aspect that PSI India realized was the multiplicity of stakeholders with regard to the pandemic ranging from men who sought sex and commercial sex workers to brothel madams as well as pimps. This called for a relatively high amount of money so as to formulate and implement sound communication outreach programs that span through the whole range of variables as stated above.
Proposed Solution
As a result of the convergent points of these groups being mainly bars, brothels as well as night clubs, videos, pamphlets and other mass media based high-risk cessation programmes should be aired in these epicenters basing their formulation on communication theory. As such the messages engendered in these various media should appeal to the intended audience. They should not appear to be teaching but employ humorous scenes yet still underpinning the seriousness that pandemic deserves. The messages should draw conclusions that both address the importance of taking precaution and the detriment of engaging in high risk behavior for instance, sex without a condom. The media messages should also avoid a patronizing attitude.
Enough IPCs (Interpersonal communicators) should also be hired to offer advice and discuss the message in the media played in the brothels, bars and nightclubs (in silent-mode). In addition the IPCs should also sell condoms at a subsidized and affordable rate to the men as well as sex workers.
Assumptions
Assuming that the communication models employed in the operation lighthouse are viable, engaging numerous IPCs as a result of the funding Operation lighthouse received from USAID would enlighten the sex workers, men, brothel madams as well as pimps in taking necessary precautions by wearing condoms when engaging in high-risk sexual encounters. As such the programs viability would be ascertained by dint of addressing all the necessary stakeholders avoiding exclusion of critical variables engendered in the men as Chaganti found out from Meera, a commercial sex worker. Moreover, the critical funds will enable PSI to employ many IPCs from a vast array of the numerous languages that India exhibits. This would go a long way towards enhancing awareness of the pandemic as the problem of language barrier would be alleviated.
Assuming that condoms were sold at a reasonable price this effort was likely to succeed because by pricing the condoms within the financial capability of the rural folk, they were bound to acquire the condoms without financial strain. More importantly was the pricing of the condom in itself as the advantage. This was likely to succeed assuming that if PSI would award the condoms for free to the local community, they would reflect on them as a worthless commodity and thus they would not use them. As such, by assigning value to the condoms they were likely to be used in sexual encounters and thus combat AIDS infection ultimately meeting the goal of Operation Lighthouse. Secondly, assigning value to the condoms was absolutely critical assuming that through such endeavor the locals would presume they were gaining and benefiting something in exchange of their money. This was likely to inspire change.
Problem
Another problem that meditated against PSIs efforts to control infection of AIDS through sexual encounters was the view that was shared among most of the population of India that AIDS was a disease limited within the circle of commercial sex workers. As such the general population believed that those who operated outside this circle were not at risk of acquiring the disease.
Proposed Solution
PSI should link up with a local advertising program and formulate billboard advertising campaigns in vernacular languages in the rural areas. This will enable the rural population to access knowledge about AIDS and thus grasp the reality of the disease.
PSI should also liaise with the local leadership in the villages to organize outreach programs endeared towards HIV AIDS Knowledge dissemination.
In addition, PSI should also liaise with the local radio stations that are significantly popular among the rural folk and formulate programs that discourage extra marital sex like Avoid the aside plan, and avoid AIDS.
Assumptions
Assuming that PSI dominated the billboards bearing the AIDS message in vernacular, It was likely to work as the local community was able to associate with the disease more in their local language as opposed to conveying the information in English or another language that though predominant in India was foreign to the locals. As such, the reality of the disease would dawn on them and thus inspire behavior change.
Assuming that PSI promoted prohibition of extramarital behavior to be a major factor in spreading HIV infections, it was likely to work because it would break the tension that often existed among couples with women wanting to discuss mens extramarital sexual behavior but limited in the platform upon which they were supposed to introduce the subject. As such, the radio programs would act as a conduit for airing the womens concerns
Problem
Another problem that PSI faced was the prevalent of the disease among migrant workers and port workers.
Proposed Solution
PSI proposed a television campaign ad branded Abandon the spare tyre .primarily the spare tyre was symbolic of the other partner that the migrant workers and port workers had in addition to their wives mainly living in rural areas. It was to use an Indian man on TV who was warning men not to switch to another channel because he was speaking about their extra marital affair. Another man in the background would be behaving uncomfortably as a result of the talk. The woman would then look at him questionably astonished with his behavior as it was suspicious.
Assumptions
This campaign was bound to succeed assuming that the intervention sought to change behavior. As such, the model the ad campaign embraced enabled behavior change as it was formulated in a way that it was able to realize measurable behavioral objectives engendered in sexual decisions.
Assuming that the ad campaign put in mind the fundamental concept of the marketing mix, it was bound to succeed. This is because it considered the message in the ad as the product. AS such it was formulated well, modeling the characters from the compact majority of Indians thus positing it favorably in its reception as most of the population identified with it.
Assuming that the cost of the campaign, despite the fact that it was dear, it was sustainable for PSI as a result of USAIDs funding and thus enabling the campaign to run for an adequate amount of time which eventually ensured that it was integrated among the high-risk groups.
Assuming that the place of the campaign was a high risk area as it was previously assessed by PSI twinning Maharastra with Tamil as the most affected epicenters of AIDS, the ad campaign was likely to succeed as the message was matched with the intended audience who would find it important to them.
Conclusion
Overall, it is worth noting that social marketing approaches as intervention procedures to societys problems are based on strategies as stressed by Kim and Mauborgne (009) with their statement that When executives develop corporate strategy, they nearly always begin by analyzing the industry or environmental conditions in which they operate.
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