From 2001 to 2003 the International Trachoma Initiative funded campaigns to help prevent blinding trachoma in Ethiopia, Ghana, Nepal, Niger and Tanzania.

The key to prevention is keeping children's faces and hands clean, and keeping the environment around the house clean. The messages were broadcast by radio, video vans and posters.

Strong improvements in knowledge and behaviour were measured in all five countries. But the most rigorous evaluation was conducted in Ethiopia. Observations of over 2000 people were conducted in 2002 and 2005 by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the results were published in 2006 and 2008.

Dramatic improvements in behaviour were observed, particularly in hand cleanliness. Even more remarkable was the 20% reduction in the prevalence of trachoma, achieved without the use of antibiotics:


In 1999, India had 60% of the world's cases of leprosy. This DFID-funded campaign was the largest leprosy campaign ever conducted.

Thanks to the partnership formed with Doordarshan (India's national TV channel) and All-India Radio, spots and short dramas were broadcast some 800 times on TV and 5500 times on radio, all free of charge.

The result of the 12-month project was that some 200,000 people were treated for leprosy.

It also led to large shifts in attitudes and behaviour, including stigma which is the strongest barrier to leprosy treatment in India. As a result of two waves of campaigning the number of people believing leprosy was hereditary fell dramatically:




These results suggest that up to 172 million people changed their minds about an issue that had been deeply ingrained for centuries.

Hence the impact of the campaign was not only a large number of people treated, but the empowerment of millions of individuals with the knowledge to make wiser decisions about their health.

A study three years later by John Hopkins University also found that these shifts in attitudes had been broadly sustained over time. The WHO now considers leprosy to be largely eliminated as a public health problem in India.

Reducing the burden of TB is a global health priority. DMI was asked by USAID and WHO in 2006 to conduct a campaign in Brazil to promote testing for TB if people noticed a cough lasting longer than 3 weeks.

Thanks to the generosity of Brazil's media, the campaign was broadcast over 8000 times on Brazil's TV stations, and by over 2300 radio stations, all free of charge. The total value of airtime donated was US$12.3 million: a 3800% return on USAID's original investment of $316,000.

Most importantly, the campaign led to a dramatic increase in the numbers of people reporting to health clinics. According to the government's laboratories, there was a 26% increase in tests for TB from the first quarter of the year to the second. Given that the campaign took place for a 1-month period in March 2006, this represents significant evidence of impact:

The WHO-funded a leprosy campaign in 1998/9 in Nepal, the precursor to the much larger India campaign a year later.

Despite much smaller volumes of TV and radio broadcasts it still led to 12,000 people being treated, and significant reductions in stigma:
Nepal's leading comedians took part in the TV spots, including a highly successful attempt to tackle Hindu scriptural references to leprosy being a curse of God.

The human stories behind this campaign.

In 2003 Brazil was listed by the WHO as having the second highest number of people living with leprosy in the world. The WHO-funded campaign there was the largest campaign to raise the issue in a country which was largely unaware of the problem.

Thanks to the support of Globo and Brazil's other TV and radio stations, the spots were broadcast over 8000 times on television and on more than 2000 radio stations, all free of charge.

This led to an immediate surge in calls to a telephone hotline ("Telehansen") which had been created for the purpose by Morhan, the organisation for people with leprosy. The number of calls per day rose from 6 calls per day prior to the campaign to a peak of over 600 calls per day: some 10,500 calls in all.



Radio phone-ins are an excellent educational tool, particularly for sex and relationship issues: young audiences love the interactive format.

Phone-ins are also the most sustainable of all media formats. Once the equipment is in place and staff trained, the cost to sustain the programme are extremely low. A youth phone-in, "Window to Love", set up in Vietnam in 1998 by DMI's Director is still running today. To this day it is one of the most popular programmes in Vietnam.



Soap operas can secure a loyal audience who care deeply about the characters and identify with them. They can also allow more complex characters and issues to be developed, alongside the creation of empowering role models.

In 2002, a TV detective series called "Jasoos Vijay" was developed as part of a BBC-Doordarshan partnership, funded by DFID to educate audiences about HIV/AIDS. The project was designed and overseen by staff currently working for DMI.

Remarkably for a programme on this subject in a conservative culture, it attracted a weekly audience of 140 million and became India's top-rated drama. This was achieved by making HIV pivotal to every story without making the stories about HIV, and by building the creative capacity of local producers.

The series also won the prestigious Indian Television Award for Best Thriller and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Award for Best Social Action Campaign. A similarly successful soap opera ("Taste of Life") was developed for Cambodia in 2003-5.