Mass media interventions for promoting HIV testing

A systematic review to assess the effect of mass media interventions and the most effective form of mass media intervention at a general population level or in specific target populations, in relation to changes in HIV testing, compared with a control group or with pre-intervention levels. Demonstrates that mass media campaigns designed to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS have shown immediate and significant effects in the promotion of voluntary counseling and testing for HIV. However no significant long-term effect was demonstrated. This may have been due to the short duration of the campaigns. Further research is needed to identify the impact of mass media campaigns, their cost effectiveness, and types of campaigns and message characteristics. In addition, more studies are needed to explore new media strategies for the long term