Dr. Carleene Dei, USAID Southern Africa Director
Launch of “Scrutinize” Public Service Announcements
HIV Prevention, South Africa—May 14, 2008

I get the fun job of thanking everybody today for your participation and support. 

Thank you to our incredible public and private sector partners for picking the best scientific, creative and analytical brains available for this campaign.  You have researched, examined and developed wonderful public service announcements for South Africans to assess their risk to HIV infection based on the sexual behaviors and partnerships that place people at risk of infection.

The involvement and capital investment from Levi Strauss South Africa in the initial production of these messages allowed for the concept of animated messages to be pre-tested with the audience to check whether this approach would be acceptable across the country.  I understand that Levis will also produce merchandise that will be sold in Levi stores, the proceeds of which will be ploughed back into the future development of the Scrutinize campaign in South Africa

By monitoring how the market reacts to the images, words and concepts, the production geniuses—Matchboxology—were able to design and adapt creative material to hit the target.      

I would also like to thank the celebrities for being here to launch the campaign today AND for giving your talents to “star” in the public service announcements.  You appeal to large segments of South Africa’s audience that we as public health communication experts cannot reach.  Your participation will undoubtedly inspire your fans to pay attention to the public service announcements and, hopefully, heed the messages.  We are grateful that you are speaking out and taking a stand to prevent HIV, using your influence in society positively.

The messages designed for the SCRUTINIZE campaign result from a great partnership with the CADRE research agency who did much of the groundwork.  Their blood, sweat and tears allowed us insights into why people engage in risky activities, such as multiple and concurrent partners.  CADRE’s professional expertise enabled us to understand the language people use in every day life so that the messages scripted throughout SCRUTINIZE are spot on.  Thank you, CADRE, for pre-testing the messages and checking that audiences understand the meanings correctly.  Your astute skills in this area helped the production gurus to avoid ambiguity and unintended consequences that could potentially arise from certain words and messages.

Let me express our appreciation to all of our community partners who in the coming months will work with us to recruit individuals and their social networks and communities to magnify the messages raised in the SCRUTINIZE campaign.  Our ultimate goal is for SCRUTINIZE to impact upon the behaviors and sexual partnerships that place people at risk of HIV infection. 

Lastly I would like to thank the team at Johns Hopkins Health and Education South Africa, led by their Managing Director, Patrick Coleman, who have worked tirelessly in overseeing and coordinating the efforts of  the Scrutinize Campaign. Our experience with JHHESA  attests to the power of partnerships in promoting positive changes in South Africa which is one of the key principles behind the work of USAID in South Africa.

So my last word is to you—the media. With knowledge comes responsibility.  We know what drives HIV in South Africa.  You do, too.  We need your expertise and assistance to craft and disseminate the best messages so that South Africans can learn how to SCRUTINIZE their health risks and curb the spread of HIV and AIDS.  Thank you to all the journalists who have attended today’s press conference and will help people learn to SCRUTINIZE their lifestyles