The absence of mass media in fighting HIV/AIDS among remote rural populations: a case study of Ebuyu village, Ulanga district in Morogoro, Tanzania

Today the 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. However, the mass media remains expensive and inaccessible to most of the remote rural populations in Tanzania In addition, most of the print media are based on a commercial basis and due to poor circulation of money, and mass media is not easily accessible in rural areas. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of radio stations in the country, but those reaching rural areas were few and with poor and sporadic signals. Moreover, a radio set was still a luxury to most rural households. This research investigated the following areas: how much do rural populations know from the 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 are gaps in the HIV/AIDS awareness/knowledge in the remote rural populations. We therefore recommend that Tanzania needs an alternative media away from the mainstream media that would cover remote rural areas’ news. Local people’s initiatives should be at the centre, lest we tell them what to do and tread on their toes. We argue that before we jump to the condom solution, we should first of all disseminate adequate information on HIV/AIDS to raise people’s awareness in remote rural parts of the country that not only do not have condoms, but also do not have the capacity to acquire them.