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Kick TB Campaign

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Launched in December 2009, Kick TB is a South African based international awareness campaign designed to unite people in the fight against tuberculosis and HIV, focusing on young, school-going children. The South African National Department of Health in partnership with the Desmond Tutu TB Centre at the Stellenbosch University launched the campaign under the banner "Let’s play, let’s learn, let's save lives!" The campaign uses football as a means to reach out to school children, and uses activation teams visiting schools throughout the country who give each child an illustrated, match quality soccer ball with a strong TB/HIV awareness message.

Communication Strategies

Kick TB is comprised of various activation teams that visit different schools throughout the country, giving each child an elaborately illustrated, match-quality soccer ball with a strong TB and HIV awareness message. During the first phase of the initiative, 115 000 soccer balls will be distributed throughout South Africa. The messages on the balls are designed to be simple and clear, listing the types of symptoms that indicate the need to visit the nearest clinic. The messages also encourage good health habits and precautionary measures that one needs to take to maintain a healthy body.

The school visits are designed to be exciting and memorable, using colourful and bold activities intended to help the children remember what they learnt through the memory of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. The DVD that is played during the activation depict children blowing up balloons, playing with toys, and blowing on vuvuzelas as a means of demonstrating how the different diseases work in one's body. The children also get to play soccer with the Kick TB mascot, Turbo Boots, who epitomises the ideal South African child; healthy, smart, aware, and physically active. The children are encouraged to imitate him and to kick the ball into goalposts, the ball representing disease as well as a careless, unhealthy lifestyle.

The project has also developed A Guide to Making Kick TB Live in Your School which contains ideas and planning information for the management and implementation of activities and events at schools.

As of July 2012, Kick TB has reached 67,000 learners and their communities throughout South Africa. Kick TB has also facilitated international capacity building workshops in the Philippines, Zambia and Ghana, making Kick TB a global initiative.

Kick TB has now developed into "Kick TB and HIV" and is planning to address TB in South African gold mines.

Development Issues

Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS

Partners

University of Stellenbosch, Department of Health (Republic of South Africa), Desmond Tutu TB Centre

Sources

Kick TB website on May 2 2012.