`This gripping narrative not only documents the history of humankind′s interaction with a clever virus, it brings to the forefront the much and understated and underused role of communication in HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment. Singhal and Rogers remind us that our global environment is shaped by powerful communication means and methods that, if properly harnessed, can help defeat the plague of the 21st century′ - Neil McKee, Senior Technical Advisor for HIV//AIDS and Adolescent Health, Johns Hopkins University
`This book is an important contribution to AIDS education globally. The rich and diverse cases analyze, humanize and contextualize the continuum of HIV//AIDS prevention, care and support. Researchers and practitioners will find this book most useful′ - Collins Airhihenbuwa, Professor of Bio-Behavioural Health, Penn State University
`Educating people about AIDS is one of the biggest communication challenges that we face today. This remarkable book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the challenges and ways to overcome it. Thorough and hopeful, this is one of those books that can actually make a difference in this world′ - Emanuel Rosen, author of ′The Anatomy of Buzz′
`A thoroughly readable and inspiring book by two of the world′s foremost health communication experts. Accessible and personalised, it is a "must-read" for all those interested in AIDS prevention, care and support′ - Shereen Usdin, Co-Founder of the Soul City Institute of Health and Development Communication, South Africa
`This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategies related to HIV//AIDS communications. It is published at a critical moment as the world increasingly realizes the role of communication in the fight against HIV//AIDS′ - Rafael Obregon, Social Communication Advisor, Pan American Health Organization
The purpose of this book is to synthesize critical lessons learned about effective HIV/AIDS prevention programs, emphasizing the role of communication strategies. Combating AIDS focuses on communication strategies that could mobilize political action, target high-risk groups, and overcome stigma. The authors describe and analyze advocacy strategies, culturally-engaging targeted and tailored responses, and the entertainment-education strategy, including the use of television and radio soap operas to engage audiences emotionally and create a forum for public debate and discussion.
Focusing on the work being carried out by individuals and organizations, this book humanizes the AIDS epidemic. Interesting, informative, and readable, it will be of interest to policymakers, practitioners, and scholars in the fields of public health, communication and change, development studies, social work, and public policy.
Dr. Arvind Singhal (asinghal@utep.edu) is the Samuel Shirley and Edna Holt Marston Endowed Professor of Communication and Director of the Social Justice Initiative in UTEP’s Department of Communication. He is also appointed, since 2009-2010, as the William J. Clinton Distinguished Fellow at the Clinton School of Public Service, Little Rock, Arkansas. Singhal teaches and conducts research in the diffusion of innovations, the positive deviance approach, organizing for social change, the entertainment-education strategy, and liberating interactional structures. His research and outreach spans sectors such as health, education, peace, human rights, poverty alleviation, sustainable development, civic participation, democracy and governance, and corporate citizenship.
Singhal is co-author or editor of 12 books – Health Communication in the 21st Century (2014); Inviting Everyone: Healing Healthcare through Positive Deviance (2010); Protecting Children from Exploitation and Trafficking: Using the Positive Deviance Approach (2009); Popular with a Purpose (2008); Communication of Innovations (2006); Organizing for Social Change (2006); Entertainment-Education Worldwide: History, Research, and Practice (2004); Combating AIDS: Communication Strategies in Action (2003); The Children of Africa Confront AIDS: From Vulnerability to Possibility (2003);India’s Communication Revolution: From Bullock Carts to Cyber Marts (2001); Entertainment-Education: A Communication Strategy for Social Change (1999); and India′s Information Revolution (1989). Three of Singhal’s books won awards for distinguished applied scholarship. In addition, he has authored some 170 peer-reviewed essays in outlets such as the Journal of Communication, Communication Theory, Communication Monographs, Health Communication, Management Communication Quarterly; Communication Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journal of Health Communication, and others.
Singhal has won Top Paper Awards from the International and National Communication Associations (ICA and NCA) over a dozen times, and Ohio University’s Baker Research Award twice. The Social Science Research Council & the International Communication Association recognized him as the winner of the Communication Research as Collaborative Practice Award in 2009, and the winner of the Communication Researcher as an Agent of Change Award in 2008. The NW Communication Association honored him with the 2007 Human Rights Award for Steadfast Commitment to Social Justice, Social Change, and Freedom, and in 2005, USC’s Norman Lear Center honored him with the first Everett M. Rogers Award for Outstanding Contributions to Entertainment-Education.
Singhal’s recent academic honors and appointments include President-Appointed Visiting Professor, Kumamoto (National) University, Japan (2012-13); Fulbright Hays Scholar, Slovakia (2012); Schomburg Distinguished Scholar, Ramapo College of New Jersey (2011), Commerzbank Foundation Professor, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany (2009); Berkitt Williams Distinguished Lecturer, Ouachita Baptist University, Arkansas (2009); and Raushni Memorial Deshpande Distinguished Lecturer, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, India (2006).
Singhal′s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, The Dutch Health Research Council, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, The National Science Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and others. He has served as an advisor to the World Bank, UN-FAO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNAIDS, UNFPA, U.S. Department of State; U.S. A.I.D., Family Health International, PATH, Save the Children, the BBC World Service Trust, International Rice Research Institute, Voice for Humanity, and private corporations such as Procter & Gamble (U.S.A and Thailand), Telenor AS (Norway), SpareBank (Norway), and others.
He has taught previously at Ohio University, University of Southern California, University of California- Los Angeles, and held visiting professorships at the USC Annenberg School; the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University; Royal Roads University, Canada; Kumamoto (National) University, Japan; Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany; Institut Teknologi (Malaysia), Bangkok University (Thailand); and visited and lectured in some 70 countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia, Europe, and North America.
