The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
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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AIDS Information Centre - Uganda

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The Uganda AIDS Information Centre (AIC) was a pioneering experiment created in conjunction with the Uganda Blood Transfusion Service. It focused on the use of mass voluntary HIV testing and counseling as a means of encouraging behaviour change in the face of the HIV epidemic. Since 1990, this project, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan countries, has been extended to other African countries.
Communication Strategies

Pre and post-test counseling was made available for approximately 200,000 people between 1990 and 1995. Pre-marital HIV testing services were also provided at the request of family, priests or clergymen. By providing information and knowledge, positive awareness on behaviour change replaced negative feelings of hopelessness and fatalism.
Development Issues

HIV/AIDS
Key Points

There were an approximately equal number of men and women visiting the centre.The relationship between the AIC and the Ugandan Blood Transfusion Service (UBTS) was two-fold. First, the centre provided an alternative place for people to go that only wanted to receive a free HIV test and did not want to donate blood. Secondly, the AIC paid the UBTS for each test it performed through USAID funding, providing valuable income for the service.
Partners



European Union, USAID (United States Agency for International Development)

Sources

Rex Winsbury, Safe blood in developing countries: The Lessons from Uganda (Brussels:Lannoo-Drukkerij, 1995) 53-55.