Development action with informed and engaged societies
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Impact Data - STOP AIDS

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Practices
Condom use among men between the ages of 17-30 yrs old increased from 8% to almost 50% between 1987 and 1990. In a nine-month period in 1985, condom sales of the Hot Rubber brand of condoms rose from 2,000 units per month to more than 55,000, leveling off a year later at 75,000 units.

Between 1986 and 1990, condom sales increased by 80 percent (from 7.6 million to 15 million units).Between 1987 and 1990, condom use among 17-30 year-olds increased from 8% to almost 50%. Condom use among 31-45 year-olds also increased during that time (from 22% to 35%).

It had been suggested that the campaign's support of condom use would promote promiscuity among young adults and result in an increase in the number of individuals' sexual partners. This argument was contradicted by a study conducted between 1987 and 1989 that found the number of people that considered mutual faithfulness effective protection against HIV transmission had increased from 18% to 49% between those years. In the 17-20 year age group, the number of those who had more than three partners actually decreased slightly.
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By 1992, the campaign had produced and placed over 75 different billboards and posters in three languages at 1,200 locations around Switzerland, with a reach of 72.6% of the overall population. Other targeted populations such as adolescents and foreign nationals were reached through movie theatre advertisements, student newspapers, and sporting events. In the two months in which they ran, movie theater commercials reached more than 50% of Switzerland's 14-34 year age group.

A survey conducted immediately after the distribution of an informational brochure about AIDS showed that at least 75 percent of the population had looked at the pamphlet, and 56 percent had read it.

In less than a year's time, the STOP AIDS logo enjoyed a recognition factor of over 90% among the Swiss population.