Absence of Mass Media in Fighting HIV/AIDS in Remote Rural Population

Mass media is claimed to be the most effective tool in raising awareness on HIV/AIDS among the public both in urban and rural areas in Tanzania. However, in Tanzania mass media remains expensive and inaccessible to most of the remote rural populations. In addition, most of the print media are based on a commercial basis and due to poor circulation of money; mass media is not easily accessible in rural areas. Though there had been an increase in the number of radio stations in the country, those reaching rural areas are still few and with poor and sporadic signals. More so, a radio set is still a luxury to most rural households. This study investigated the following areas: how much do rural populations know about HIV/AIDS from mass media; what gaps are there in their knowledge/awareness, the reasons for the existing gaps and what can be done to bridge the gaps. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and found that there were gaps in the HIV/AIDS awareness/knowledge in the remote rural population that need to be urgently addressed.