An adolescent-targeted HIV prevention project using African professional soccer players as role models and educators in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

The calamitous effects of HIV in Africa demand novel approaches to prevention. Young people are an ideal target as early intervention may have long-term benefits. Given their high social status, professional soccer players may be effective in HIV education as role models and educators. In our study, professional soccer players provided HIV education in an interactive curriculum for 7th grade boys and girls in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Students in intervention classrooms demonstrated significant increases in knowledge and attitudes using pre-, immediately post- and five-month post-intervention surveys. There was a delayed increase in these factors among control students, suggesting a possible diffusion of information from their peers who received the intervention curriculum. Given these results and the magnitude of the HIV epidemic, this pilot program should be replicated in other communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Continual efforts should be made to rigorously evaluate the approach and improve its effectiveness.