Reproductive Health is in Your Hands: the national media campaign in Bolivia.

To strengthen awareness of the National Reproductive Health Program the Bolivian Government launched a mass media campaign aimed at low- and middle-income males and females 18-35 years of age. Specific objectives of the campaign were to increase positive attitudes toward reproductive health knowledge of at least one benefit of reproductive health and where to obtain these services knowledge of where to obtain family planning services partner communication about reproductive health and use of reproductive health services at health centers. To facilitate understanding of family planning decision making in Bolivia 16 focus groups were conducted and all campaign materials were pretested. The campaign included 11 television spots 44 radio spots leaflets and posters videos for clinic waiting rooms and audiotapes for use on city buses. A survey conducted immediately after the communication campaign of 2354 men and women from seven urban areas indicated 85% had been exposed to the campaign; family planning was the most frequently remembered message. A positive attitude toward reproductive health increased from 86% at baseline to 91% after the campaign. The percentage of women 18-35 years old who reported speaking to someone other than their partner about reproductive health in the past 6 months increased from 71% to 82% while the percentage of male respondents who stated they definitely intended to use or continue to use contraception in the future rose from 25% to 60%. Family planning use among those most exposed to the campaign increased from 5.4% to 8.7%. Given the success of this campaign the challenge is to meet the increased demand for quality services.