Federal Police Prevention Activities

The objective of this continuing activity is to strengthen and integrate the Federal Police Commission's

(FPC) HIV prevention, care, and treatment activities for police and their dependents with other prevention

activities employing the MARCH model (Modeling and Reinforcement to Combat HIV/AIDS).

In 2005, the HIV seroprevalence among antenatal care (ANC) attendees of the Federal Police Referral

Hospital was 24.8%, suggesting that HIV prevalence among police members and their families is significant.

Moreover, the formative assessment carried out among the Federal Police and Addis Ababa police

identified HIV risk factors related with behavior, socio-demographic characteristics, police duties, and

relationships in their personal life, including young age, substance/alcohol abuse, willingness to experiment,

frequent movement, sexual dissatisfaction with condoms, and lack of faith in condoms.

MARCH is a behavior-change communications (BCC) strategy that promotes behavioral changes that

reduce the risk of HIV infection and transmission, and encourages communities to use services to care for

people living with HIV (PLWH) and children orphaned by the epidemic. This Other Prevention intervention:

promotes consistent, correct, condom use; promotes early treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STI);

addresses problems related to stigma and discrimination towards PLWH; and promotes uptake of services

(e.g., voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and ART). MARCH also addresses related attitudes to gender,

gender-based violence, stigma, and risk perception. Technical assistance from Johns Hopkins

University/Center for Communications Programs (JHU/CCP) and CDC helped the project to accelerate

implementation of activities and achieve results.

There are two main components to the MARCH program: education through entertainment, and

interpersonal reinforcement. The entertainment component uses a printed serial drama (PSD) format to

introduce role models in a storyline to provide information about behavior change, to motivate the audience,

and to enhance a sense of self-efficacy. Reinforcement activities use interpersonal strategies like peer-

group discussions to achieve the objective of having group members apply messages from the drama to

their own lives. The group discussions also provide accurate information about HIV/AIDS and behavior

change, provide opportunities to practice new skills that may be required to avoid infection, and provide

support to those who have been infected.

In FY05, structural adjustments were made to the MARCH Office, allowing it to function under the Director

General's Office, with project advisory boards consisting of higher officials from all departments. Project

staff were employed and trained on MARCH principles and PSD design. In FY06, a total of 5,263 police

members were reached with a variety of MARCH activities, including PSD and reinforcement activities such

as live drama presentations, panel discussions, police radio and TV ads, fliers, posters, and banners. An

additional 715 police members were trained with the MARCH handbook to promote correct and consistent

condom use, early treatment of STI, and risk reduction, and 1,400 peer-discussion groups were convened.

In FY07, an additional 875 police members were trained to promote correct and consistent condom use and

early treatment of STI. The PSD was produced and distributed to more than 1,400 peer groups, and various

interactive reinforcement activities were held, reaching 5,000 police members. Various information-

education-communication (IEC) materials, including fliers, posters and banners were produced and

distributed. The project used police radio and TV programs to promote MARCH and link prevention with HIV

services. The project also created a working relationship with the University of California, San Diego

(UCSD) program at the Federal Police Referral hospital.

In FY08, the project will keep the momentum and build on FY07 accomplishments, focusing on existing

major activities including:

1) Continuing to build organizational capacity of the Federal Police Commission and Addis Ababa Police

Commission by working closely with the advisory board to improve financial and procurement systems to

better implement MARCH

2) Strengthening the technical capacity of project staff to :develop PSD and IEC materials; conduct peer

discussions, training, and mentoring; and monitor the progress of MARCH implementation

3) Continuing to produce and disseminate PSD with comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention messages to

police members. This effort will be supported by biweekly interactive peer-group discussions.

4) Recruiting and training police members as peer leaders, as well as offering refresher training for existing

peer leaders

5) Continuing to incorporate male-norms issues into all materials and activities begun in FY07

6) Producing IEC materials needed to augment PSD and addressing gaps identified during peer

discussions. IEC materials will be created and will focus on various issues related to HIV/AIDS, such as

gender-based violence, alcohol us, risk reduction, etc.

7) Conducting regular peer-group discussions and other reinforcement activities (e.g., using police media

including radio, TV, and newspaper)

8) Strengthening project monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and documentation systems and conducting

process evaluation

9) Strengthening linkages with other services (e.g., VCT, ART, and PMTCT) in the police hospital and with

other service providers

Since the PSD and reinforcement activities encompassed in MARCH are designed to reach the police with

a comprehensive ABC message, all targets will be counted under Other Prevention, though AB is a

significant part of the overall prevention intervention.

Added following three paragraphs 10/6/08:

The Federal Police MARCH Office function under the supervision of the Director General's Office, with

project advisory boards consisting of higher officials from all departments. The Federal Police MARCH

project is being implemented in 7main departments of the Federal police and Addis Ababa police. All

Federal police and Addis Ababa polices are organized in peer group structures except the Federal Rapid

Police Department. Project staff were employed and trained on MARCH principles and PSD design. In

FY06, 5,263 police members were reached with a variety of MARCH activities, including PSD and

reinforcement activities such as live drama presentations, panel discussions, police radio and TV ads, fliers,

posters, and banners. Additional 715 police members were trained with the MARCH handbook to promote

correct and consistent condom use, early treatment of STI, and risk reduction, and 1,400 peer-discussion

groups were convened.

In FY07, additional 875 police members were trained. The Print Serial Drama was produced and distributed

to more than 2000 peer groups, and various interactive reinforcement activities were held, reaching more

than 5,000 police members. Various information education- communication (IEC) materials, including fliers,

posters and banners were produced and distributed. The project used police, newspaper, radio and TV

programs to promote MARCH and link prevention with HIV services.

This funding will be used to strengthen the existing Federal Police MARCH program in Addis Ababa and

scale up MARCH program to new regional police offices. The activity also involves building the capacity of

Federal Police Medias ( Print, Radio and Audio visual media) for better reporting of HIV/AIDS educational

messages advocacy of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services. This activity will create an

opportunity to link the existing MARCH program with the Federal Police Medias to expand the reach and

coverage of the program.

The objective of this continuing activity is to strengthen and integrate Federal Police Commission (FPC)

prevention, care, and treatment activities for police and their dependents with other prevention activities

employing Modeling and Reinforcement to Combat HIV/AIDS (MARCH).

In 2005, the HIV sero-prevalence among antenatal care attendees of the Federal Police Referral Hospital

was 24.8%--suggesting that HIV prevalence among police members and their families is significant.

Moreover, the formative assessment carried out among the Federal Police and Addis Ababa police

identified HIV risk factors related to behavior, socio-demographic characteristics, police duties, and

relationships in their personal lives, including young age, substance/alcohol abuse, willingness to

experiment, frequent movement, sexual dissatisfaction with condoms, and lack of faith in condoms.

MARCH is a behavior-change communications (BCC) strategy that promotes behavioral changes that

reduce the risk of HIV infection and transmission, and encourages communities to use services to care for

people living with HIV (PLWH) and children orphaned by the epidemic. This Other Prevention intervention

promotes consistent, correct condom use, promotes early treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STI),

addresses problems related to stigma and discrimination towards PLWH, and promotes uptake of services

like voluntary counseling and testing and ART. MARCH also addresses related attitudes to gender, gender-

based violence, stigma, and risk perception. Technical assistance from Johns Hopkins University/Center for

Communications Programs and CDC helped the project to accelerate implementation of activities and

achieve results.

There are two main components to the MARCH program: education through entertainment, and

interpersonal reinforcement. The entertainment component uses a printed serial drama (PSD) format to

introduce role models in a storyline to provide information about behavior change, to motivate the audience,

and to enhance a sense of self-efficacy. Reinforcement activities use interpersonal strategies like peer

group discussions, with the objective of group members applying messages from the drama to their own

lives. The group discussions also provide accurate information about HIV/AIDS and behavior change,

provide opportunities to practice new skills that may be required in avoiding infection, and provide support to

those infected.

In FY05, structural adjustments were made to the MARCH Office, allowing it to function under the Director

General's Office, with project advisory boards consisting of higher officials from all departments. Project

staff were employed and trained on MARCH principles and PSD design. In FY06, a total of 5,263 police

members were reached with a variety of MARCH activities, including PSD and reinforcement activities such

as live drama presentations, panel discussions, police radio and TV ads, fliers, posters, and banners. An

additional 715 police members were trained with the MARCH handbook to promote correct and consistent

condom use, early treatment of STI, and risk reduction, and 1,400 peer discussion groups were convened.

In FY07, an additional 875 police members were trained to promote correct and consistent condom use and

early treatment of STI. The PSD was produced and distributed to more than 1,400 peer groups, and various

interactive reinforcement activities were held, reaching 5,000 police members. Various information,

education and communication (IEC) materials, including fliers, posters, and banners were produced and

distributed. The project also used the police radio and TV programs to promote MARCH and link prevention

with HIV services. The project also created a working relationship with the University of California, San

Diego (UCSD) program at the Federal Police Referral hospital.

In FY08, the project will keep the momentum and build on FY07 accomplishments, focusing on existing

major activities including:

1) Continue building organizational capacity of the FPC and Addis Ababa Police Commission by working

closely with the advisory board to improve financial and procurement systems to better implement MARCH

2) Strengthen the technical capacity of project staff to develop PSD and IEC materials; conduct peer

discussions, training, and mentoring; and monitor the progress of MARCH implementation

3) Continue production and dissemination of PSD to reach 6,750 police members with comprehensive

HIV/AIDS-prevention messages, supported by biweekly interactive peer-group discussions

4) Training 87 police members as peer leaders, as well as refresher training for existing peer leaders

5) Continue incorporation of male norms issues into all materials and activities that were begun in FY07

6) Produce IEC materials needed to augment PSD and address the gaps identified during peer discussions.

Create IEC materials that focus on various issues related to HIV/AIDS, such as gender-based violence,

Activity Narrative: alcohol use, risk reduction, etc.

7) Conduct regular peer group discussion and other reinforcement activities using police media, including

radio, TV, and newspaper

8) Strengthen project monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and documentation systems and conduct process

evaluation

9) Strengthen linkages with other services, such as VCT, ART, and PMTCT in the police hospital and with

other service providers

Since the PSD and reinforcement activities encompassed in MARCH are designed to reach the police with

a comprehensive ABC (abstinence, be faithful, condom use) message, all targets will be counted under

Other Prevention, though AB (abstinence, be faithful) is a significant part of the overall prevention

intervention.