Teenagers have to be persuaded to adopt safe sexual habits, a much easier task. Yet this is a long-term job operating on three levels awareness, information and education. Despite meagre resources, African countries have made great efforts to raise awareness and spread information. Posters and radio are the favoured methods. Performing arts presentations and advertising are also often used.
Experience shows that condom sales increase in the ten days following an awareness campaign.
But these campaigns must happen more frequently to be effective because repetition is the key. Educating young people is still the main challenge because they are the chief victims of Aids. Around half of the newly-infected people worldwide are between the ages of 15 and 24. So while schools must be part of prevention, it will take some time before they have a real impact. In Africa, more than any other region, the only way to attack the epidemic is to mobilize all the major actors in society at every level the government, civil society, local communities and foreign aid sources.