[PA-13] The MOCHA Coalition - Addressing HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the African American and Latino Gay/Bisexual Community
Victor Pond, Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL
The MOCHA Coalition (Men Of Color HIV/AIDS) in its two and a half years has implemented three social marketing campaigns of which posters (and palm cards) were central. All three campaigns were the results of focus groups held throughout the city of Chicago. The first campaign was targeted at African American and Latino MSMs. It was done in collaboration with the Chicago Transit Authority (includes placing posters on the back of buses, transit billboards and interior of both buses and trains).
This campaign ran from September to November 2001 with an amazing impact on the number of individuals accessing the AIDS Hotline. At the height of this campaign, the number of callers increased by over 50%. This is one of the greatest increases experienced in recent years.
Additionally, the number of Spanish speaking only callers increased by over 100%. Data is currently being collected for the Chicago Department of Public Health's HIV counseling and testing sites, however anecdotal evidence indicated that there were similar increases in the number of individuals seeking HIV counseling and testing. This data suggest that utilization of counseling and testing services were high, thus more people were aware of their HIV status than before.
The success of this campaign and the overwhelming impact of HIV on Young gay men of color, sparked the Coalition to develop a similar campaign targeting this community that is placed in venues frequented by this community (.i.e., bars, nightclubs, bathhouses, etc.). This campaign was done in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago's African American YMSM program (Dept. of Psychology). The goal for this campaign is to have a similar impact on young gay men of color in Chicago and reduce the enormous rates of HIV infections among this community.
