The programme officers have to be convinced that communication is essential to their programming work. They are academics, or social scientists, or physicians and policy wonks all disciplines that have not been the most progressive supporters of communications. It really is a comprehensive programme that includes all of the functional sorts of things in good public relations and promotion - social marketing, public service advertising and media relations. They have done a really good job of creating a need in the public s mind that most of us had not really focused on prior to their work - which is that one of the biggest killers by tobacco is children. What a brilliant strategy if you want to take on smoking.
Children are a good place to get the public involved.
Then there is The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Three or four years ago when the notion that we could indeed have a vaccine for AIDS was seriously starting to be verbalised among the AIDS research community, I would say to people well, you know we really could have an AIDS vaccine . Their eyes would roll back in their heads. IAVI has, through low key efforts, pretty much got the message out there that a vaccine is not only possible but essential to stopping the spread of the disease. They have done that pretty much through media relations and community relations working with constituency groups.