This report sets out an assessment, so far as data allow, of the Regional HIV and AIDS Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) programme which supports three civil society organisations and their projects to:

• Reduce the spread of HIV in South Africa through health education and “edutainment”
• Increase knowledge and shift beliefs and behaviours towards behaviour likely to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS
• Improve compliance with treatment with Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) through increased education of those on medication, community support for sufferers and other interventions

From the evidence found the report concludes that the programmes are offering benefits that make them cost-effective relative to further investment in ART.

Further conclusions include:

• Benefits will be larger, the longer the period of sustained change in knowledge, beliefs, attitude and behaviour and associated reductions in risk of HIV infection
• Benefits will be smaller, and projects potentially much less cost-effective, if the marginal reach of programmes and the marginal impact of any reinforcement of existing knowledge are much smaller than the total reach used to assess benefits
• Cost effectiveness of BCC is more likely, relative to ART, if a higher cost estimate for ART is used