Working in partnership with the Government of India's National AIDS Control Programme and public broadcaster, Doordarshan, we produced an award-winning series about an HIV-positive detective that communicated key HIV messages to over 70 million people in India.
Start date: 2001
End date: 2007
Media type: television
Issue: health
Country: India
Family members used to get up and walk away whenever HIV and AIDS messages appeared on TV... but not any more... Now we all sit and watch and listen.
Viewer
"Family members used to get up and walk away whenever HIV and AIDS messages appeared on TV... but not any more... Now we all sit and watch and listen."
Viewer
When Jasoos Vijay ('Detective Vijay') first hit television screens in 2002, families tuned in to watch the action-packed adventures of the HIV-positive central character.
HIV and AIDS messages
The weekly, half-hour thriller included story lines designed to provide accurate information about HIV and AIDS related issues, including:
- How HIV is transmitted
- Voluntary counselling and testing
- Challenging stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS
- Care and support treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS.
Jasoos Vijay was part of a much larger mass media campaign to encourage open and informed discussion of HIV and AIDS in India.
The series was broadcast on Sunday evenings at 8.30pm on Doordarshan, India's public broadcaster. It was produced in Hindi and dubbed into seven other Indian languages and broadcast regionally.
Over 100 episodes of Jasoos Vijay were broadcast between 2002 and 2004 and 53 episodes were broadcast between 2005 and 2006.
Promotion
Over 2,500 promotional television advertisements and 71 billboard hoardings (20ft x 20ft) were installed in towns and cities across India during the second phase of the campaign.
Education
A Jasoos Vijay website was developed to provide updates on the thriller series and information on HIV and AIDS.
The interactive website aimed to educate users on HIV and AIDS and offered an opportunity to feedback on the programme and participate in Jasoos Viiay contests.
Research and impact
During its 53 week broadcast run from September 2005 to September 2006, Jasoos Vijay was one of the top 20 most viewed television programmes in India.
According to the Nielson's Television Audience Measure (TAM) Survey, Jasoos Vijay reached a cumulative, unduplicated audience of 70 million people between 2005 and 2006.
We carried out extensive quantitative and qualitative research before and after the second phase of the campaign to measure its impact. Between 2004 and 2006:
- Knowledge that HIV can be transmitted through unprotected sex increased from 16% to 29% for viewers of the Jasoos Vijay. Among sexually active men, 58% Jasoos Vijay viewers are aware that unprotected sex could be a route of HIV transmission, compared to only 39% of non-viewers.
- Knowledge that having multiple partners increases the risk of HIV transmission increased from 18% to 22% for viewers of the Jasoos Vijay.
- The attitude that you should always wear a condom when having sex increased from 51% to 70% of male viewers and 26% to 51% female viewers of the Jasoos Vijay detective series.
- Seventeen percent of Jasoos Vijay viewers stated that they ever felt like getting tested for HIV compared to 11% of non-viewers.
- Knowledge that HIV can be treated increased from 14% to 19% for viewers of the Jasoos Vijay.
- The attitude that people living with HIV and AIDS have the same rights as those uninfected increased from 67% to 80% of male viewers and 70% to 82% for women viewers of the Jasoos Vijay.
Jasoos Vijay was part of a much larger mass media campaign, produced, broadcast and shared in collaboration with a wide range of partners.