BEHAVIOR CHANGE COMMUNICATION (BCC)
FOR HIV/AIDS
A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

This work was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of Family
Health International’s Implementing AIDS Prevention and Care (IMPACT) Project (Cooperative Agreement
HRN-A-00-97-00017-00) and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or FHI.
FHI implements the USAID IMPACT Project in partnership with the Institute of Tropical Medicine Management
Sciences for Health Population Services International Program for Appropriate Technology in Health and the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

© September 2002
Family Health International
Institute for HIV/AIDS
2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 700
Arlington,
The AIDS epidemic forces societies to confront cultural ideals and practices that can contribute to HIV transmission. Effective BCC is vital to setting the tone for compassionate and responsible interventions. It can also produce insight into the broader socioeconomic impacts of the epidemic and mobilize the political, social and economic responses needed to mount an effective program.
FHI’s pragmatic BCC approach, based on sound practice and experience, focuses on building local, regional and national capacity to develop integrated BCC that leads to positive action by stimulating society-wide discussions. BCC is both an essential component of each program area and the glue between the various areas. However, society-wide change is slow; changes achieved through BCC will not occur overnight.
This document outlines FHI’s BCC strategy for HIV/AIDS. It has been developed for use by donors, partners, collaborators and potential collaborators.

II. THE ROLE OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE COMMUNICATION
BCC is an integral component of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support program. It has a number of different but interrelated roles. Effective BCC can:
Increase knowledge. BCC can ensure that people are given the basic facts about HIV and AIDS in a language or visual medium (or any other medium that they can understand and relate to).
Stimulate community dialogue. BCC can encourage community and national