Health and environment

The challenges of public health have for many years been the single most important sector within Communication for Development. Since the early nutrition campaigns of the 1960s in Africa health communication has existed as a field of communication practice. It has passed through a broad variety of public health foci (family planning, polio eradication, tb, sexual and reproductive health and rights. At Ørecomm the research will be based on a broad understanding of health as determined by the Ottawa Charter (1986) which emphasized the social determinants of health.

In the past 15 years health communication has been severely challenged by the proliferating HIV/AIDS pandemic. A complex pandemic as HIV/AIDS demanded equally complex communication responses in the campaigns designed. However this move from narrow marketing of messages in many social marketing campaigns to complex communication for social change oriented campaigns has been very slow in gaining impetus. It is from the last decade of critical reflection within HIV/AIDS communication for prevention that the emerging paradigm of communication for social change has evolved. Ørecomm researchers are actively involved in research, policy development and practice of HIV/AIDS communication and have been actively involved in the international debate on HIV/AIDS communication. This is thus already a well-established research strand in Ørecomm.