Futures Group was part of the team that implemented the HIV/AIDS Prevention (HAPP II) Project as well as its precursor, HAPP I. The HAPP II Project facilitated the development and implementation of policies supportive of HIV/AIDS control based upon the documented effectiveness of interventions that reduce HIV transmission in three demonstration areas. The project comprised four integrated components: (1) IEC behavior change, (2) policy support and dissemination, (3) management and control of HIV/AIDS/STIs, and (4) expanded access to and promotion of condoms. The project was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by Family Health International.

Under the HAPP Project, Futures Group worked with the Consortium of Concerned Condom Manufacturers, which Futures Group helped create. Together, Futures Group and the Consortium implemented a multifaceted social marketing campaign designed to increase condom use among commercial sex workers (CSWs) (in an increasing trend, nearly 50 percent of sex workers were between the ages of 15 and 24) and their clients in Indonesian red light areas. The Consortium consisted of two local condom manufacturers and one multinational. These manufacturers marketed a “cafeteria” of condom brands at multi-price levels to suit all consumers.

Futures Group and the Consortium implemented an integrated, results-driven condom marketing strategy that included massive condom promotion-education in red light areas, including a three-month “Kondomania” promotion that boosted condom sales and mass media advertising. Futures Group facilitated the Consortium’s sponsorship of 127 NGO “enter-educate” events in red light communities. These events combined entertainment such as street dramas, street music, dance competitions, radio talk shows conducted “live” in bars or discos, dangdut music shows, kite festivals, car rallies, and karaoke with education on STDs/HIV/AIDS and condom use. In addition, there were university seminars involving students, and condom factory visits by commercial sex workers, NGOs, and the media. Ongoing media relations, monthly theme-based media gatherings, and a press writing competition resulted in substantial press coverage on condoms and HIV/AIDS, which increased public awareness and fostered media advocacy for HIV/AIDS issues. One theme-based media gathering, for example, provided a forum for marginalized groups (in this case sex workers, transvestites, and poor fishermen) to speak out on issues concerning HIV/AIDS that threaten their communities. Media value of condom-related press coverage was estimated at nearly $300,000.

Key Accomplishments

• In one year (1999), condom use among CSWs rose 30 percent. Condom availability and visibility also substantially increased in red light areas
   

• Retail audit results suggested that the campaign had a strong impact on condom sales

• An end-of-project survey of nearly 500 men in red light areas showed that most recalled condom advertising and more than one-third used condoms because they felt personally at risk of STI infection and believed condoms reduce the risk. Nearly all respondents were aware of HIV/AIDS

• At project end, the Consortium members planned to sustain and even increase the size of their special task forces