HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control
Full Review

Reviewed by: Tran Thi Thanh Mai, Vice Director, Viet Nam Commission for Population, Family and Children, Communication and Education Department. Interlocutor with ADB on HIV/AIDS, youth, family projects: Viet Nam
Review posted 24 March 2006
Review No. 72

CD-ROM Information

Content: This training CD-ROM, produced by the Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium, is designed as a short course for social workers wanting to work in HIV/AIDS prevention. The materials offer basic knowledge about the HIV/AIDS virus and how to prevent transmission of this disease. The course uses entertaining and educational games as an effective training tool.
Publication Date: 25 January 2004
Audience: The CD-ROM is useful for social workers, doctors, and health workers or trainers at the community health level. Because the content is introduced systematically it is accessible to persons with the minimum of a high school education.

Size: 145MB
Price: Free
Manual needed: Yes. Downloadable from CD-ROM
How to order:

Order by e-mail:
info@rhrc.org.

Download CD-ROM content online.*

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Full Review

Content

The CD–ROM is organized as a 5-day training course with each day covering one complete topic. Each session offers a slide presentation that focuses learners on the most important things to remember. Reference documents and handouts accompany these slide presentations. All of the reference documents are easy to understand and are helpful to both teachers and learners. The material includes instructional directions for a series of games that teachers may organize in class. There are also audio tracks that allow learners to listen in on authentic clinical situations.

Day 1 presents a thorough overview of the scope of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the disease, and its manifestations, and the multitude of factors underlying the epidemic.

Day 2 focuses on Behavior Change Communication (BCC). The materials examine the background to the behavior change process then proceed to the communication process and its various components. The main point is to help learners understand that BCC is a process that involves working with individuals, communities, and societies to develop communication strategies that promote positive behaviors. Most importantly BCC underscores the need to provide a supportive environment that will enable people to initiate and sustain these positive behaviors.

This section draws an important distinction between BCC and another communication strategy called Information, Education and Communication (IEC). The latter is another process of working with individuals, communities, and societies to develop communication strategies to promote positive behaviors that are appropriate to their settings. The principle difference between these strategies is that BCC recognizes that behavior is not only a matter of having information and making a personal choice. Behavior change also requires a supportive environment.

Day 3 considers the clinical presentation of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), their implications, and syndromic management. Given that STIs are a common health problem, affecting women in particular, the material establishes the link between STIs and HIV/AIDS and explains that STIs increase vulnerability to HIV because of the increased number of HIV target cells in genital areas. It also points out that STI-related ulcers provide entry and exit points for HIV transmission. The material views HIV transmission within the context of low condom use and points out that treatment of STIs can have a significant impact on HIV /AIDS prevention. It goes on to underscore the effectiveness of condoms in preventing STIs, HIV transmission, and unwanted pregnancy.

Day 3 also introduces Voluntary Counseling and Testing services (VCT), and how different modes of VCT may be set up in communities.

Day 4 examines the two remaining transmission routes for HIV/AIDS: the blood route and the mother-to-child route. The discussion covers the universal precautions and occupational exposure concerns facing healthcare workers, and also debates issues around mother-to-child transmission. The session explores two important interventions: the usage of antiretroviral drugs and the avoidance of breastfeeding by HIV positive women. Both interventions require that a woman know whether she is infected or not. Therefore these interventions rely on VCT services and health facilities to ensure that a pregnant woman find out her HIV status. Though the main focus of Day 4 remains on prevention, the material also touches on aspects of treatment.

Day 5 focuses on "people living with HIV/AIDS" (PLWA) and explores the impacts of HIV/AIDS on individuals, families, communities, and societies. The materials present a holistic approach to caring for PLWA patients and addresses their lifestyle, emotional, practical, and medical needs.

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User-friendliness and Interactivity

When using the CD-ROM together with the online version, the program functions very well. It is easy to install and to navigate, and the links to move between sections are fast. However, when downloading the CD-ROM onto the hard drive to use as a stand-alone program, the program runs slower and is not as convenient to navigate. In many developing countries training courses still rely on CD-ROMs as the primary vehicle for group instruction. Because the online links are an important feature of the program and appear to be integrated into the CD-ROM content, internet connectivity is also essential. This may be a problem for use in developing countries such as Viet Nam where training facilities may not have internet access. As a stand-alone product, much of the CD-ROM content will not be available to users.  However, the documents and handouts contained included in the CD-ROM will still provide substantial support to a training course.

There is no program-based interactivity such as quizzes or videos.  The audio tracks are the only interactive program segments.

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Sustainability

Overall, the content is a very good source of basic knowledge on HIV/AIDS. However, more specific information such as the number of HIV/AIDS cases in each region, each country, and worldwide statistics should be updated on a quarterly basis. People are very keen to learn about the clinical trials of new HIV vaccines and other medicines that may bring hope to infected patients. Therefore, updated pharmaceutical information would be an important enhancement to the material.

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