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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School-based randomized controlled trial of an HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention for South African adolescents

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Jemmott Iii, J. B., L. S. Jemmott, et al. (2010). "School-based randomized controlled trial of an HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention for South African adolescents." Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 164(10): 923-929.

Objective: To test the efficacy of a school-based human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted disease (HIV/STD) risk-reduction intervention for South African adolescents.

Design: A cluster-randomized, controlled design with assessments of self-reported sexual behavior collected before intervention and 3, 6, and 12 months after intervention.

Setting: Primary schools in a large, black township and a neighboring rural settlement in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.

Participants: Nine of 17 matched pairs of schools were randomly selected. Sixth-grade students with parent or guardian consent were eligible.

Interventions: Two 6-session interventions based on behavior-change theories and qualitative research. The HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention targeted sexual risk behaviors; the attention-matched health promotion control intervention targeted health issues unrelated to sexual behavior.

Outcome Measures: The primary outcome was self report of unprotected vaginal intercourse in the previous 3 months averaged over the 3 follow-ups. Secondary outcomes were other sexual behaviors.

Results: A total of 1057 (94.5%) of 1118 eligible students (mean age,12.4 years) participated, with 96.7% retained at the 12-month follow-up. Generalized estimating equation analyses adjusted for clustering from 18 schools revealed that, averaged over the 3 follow-ups, a significantly smaller percentage of HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention participants reported having unprotected vaginal intercourse (odds ratio [OR] ,0.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.30-0.85), vaginal intercourse (OR,0.62;95% CI, 0.42-0.94), and multiple sexual partners (OR,0.50; 95% CI, 0.28-0.89),whenadjusted for baseline prevalences, compared with health-promotion control participants.

Conclusion: This is the first large-scale, community-level, randomized intervention trial toshowsignificant effectson the HIV/STD sexual risk behavior of South African adolescents in the earliest stages of entry into sexual activity