The IEC campaign of NACO is operational at two levels: the National level and the State level. The activity has been mostly decentralized to the States and each State society is expected to utilize the funds as per the local requirements.

Despite all the talk about funds being available for IEC, the fact is that the funds are quite meager, considering the size of the country and the magnitude of the problem. Funds amounting to about Rs.10 crore are available for the national campaign, which is operated centrally by NACO.

The fear approach has been completely done away with in all campaign messages. During the early days of the campaign, this approach was used to a certain extent, but the same has been discontinued for quite some time.

NACO has a process by which a committee comprising renowned media personnel come together to decide the content and strategies for all campaigns at the national level. Research, in terms of NFHS and BSS surveys conducted by the Ministry, are used to ascertain knowledge levels in the population. Based on the funds available, appropriate media is used for dissemination of messages.

Endorsement by well known personalities gives visibility and acceptance to any product (social and commercial), and is a time tested approach in the field of advertising. Prevention of AIDS is related to behavioral change in individuals who are expected to adopt safer sexual practices.

This is an extremely difficult action response that the AIDS campaign expects from the target audience. This process is time consuming; however, we have to work more intensively. Given a limited budget available with NACO, all personalities roped in so far have offered their services for free. Media events that are appropriately located and strategized, are necessary to give visibility to the program and also enthuse participation from target groups like the youth.

The IEC campaign uses a number of media vehicles to spread the messages in the rural belt. The bulk of the money is spent on TV (Doordarshan) and radio which is accessible by both urban and rural populations.

As recent surveys have shown, the reach of television has far outstripped the reach of even radio and other media. Apart from the mass media, interpersonal communication methods are used, which cover urban slums and rural areas.

The Government policy has been that condoms are an effective, protective measure to prevent the spread of HIV. The Government believes that it is necessary to be focused in the promotion of condoms since a large number of infections occur through unsafe sex. For the general population the dual use of condoms for contraception and disease prevention is emphasized by both National AIDS program and Reproductive & Child Health program. For the high risk groups, targeted social marketing and free distribution of condoms is being promoted through NGOs.

Consistent and correct use of Latex condoms are fully effective in preventing the spread of HIV through the sexual route.