Tuko Wangapi? Tulizana. (How many are we? Settle down) Community Outreach Activity

Tuko wangapi? Tulizana is a national campaign that aims to address concurrent sexual partnerships as a driver of new HIV infections in Tanzania. The campaign aims to increase knowledge of what a sexual network is and why it is risky, and examine the health, social, emotional and other consequences of concurrency. It encourages the audience to think critically about and discuss their own and their partners’ sexual history and behavior, with the ultimate goal of reducing overlapping sexual partnerships. Key campaign channels include radio and TV spots and interactive programs, print and social media, as well as community outreach.

This is a tool to be used in outreach with community members to demonstrate what sexual networks are and why they are risky. The activity uses community member participation and engages them in the learning process. Each person is asked to portray one member of a sexual network, and by the end of the exercise it is clear that each of them is at risk for HIV. It is meant to be led by a facilitator.

Early evaluation results showed that over 33,000 radio spots aired on 19 stations since the start of the campaign, and over 300,000 community members have been reached through the Tuko wangapi? community outreach toolkit. Quarterly quarterly market research surveys showed that 69% of respondents had seen or heard the campaign, that 58% can correctly complete the phrase, ‘Tuko wangapi?’, and that over 40% of those exposed to the campaign have discussed the campaign with someone else, with friends and sexual partners being at the top of that list. Phase I of the project achieved its goals of increasing knowledge of and communication about what a sexual network is and why it is risky and in increasing personal HIV risk perception– the “Tuko wangapi?” phase of the campaign. As more evaluation results are available, we will update this page.

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, Tanzania Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, CARE, Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS)

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019