"Ligne Verte" Toll-Free Hotline: Using Cell Phones to Increase Access to Family Planning Information in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Réseau Africain de l'Éducation pour la Santé (RAES) developed and implemented a health communications pilot project targeting secondary school students throughout Dakar, Senegal, in the summer of 2008. The program focused on the development of a scholastic, Internet-based community dedicated to health information, education, and dissemination, created by and for Senegalese youth. This article focuses on the summer pilot aspect of this program. Forty-five students from three local high schools in Dakar were recruited during their summer break to participate in a 10-week pilot project conducted at RAES. This summer project developed students' communication and technical skills; youth leaders formulated health messages communicating HIV/AIDS issues to their peers by producing their own digital content. Youth designed, wrote, and produced content using web-based applications, audio/visual equipment, and traditional journalistic approaches. The program was designed to positively impact health behaviors and attitudes among Senegalese youth in the domains of HIV/AIDS stigmatization and discrimination. This included emphasizing the importance of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV, as well as the role of peer support in reducing health risks. This program can help usher in a new and effective health communications method that may be implemented in high schools throughout Dakar, as well as be scaled up to serve the interest of the greater African community.