Syphilis test campaign may increase tests

A social marketing campaign urging gay and bisexual men in San Francisco to get checked for syphilis has been linked to an increase in syphilis tests.

Cartoons advocating the tests were placed in a gay newspaper, and poster-sized reproductions were posted on the streets, on bus shelters, on Webs sites and in gay bars.

The researchers, led by Katherine Ahrens of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, conducted two surveys -- one at six months and one at 2.5 years after the campaign had begun. Gay and bisexual men were asked whether they were aware of the cartoons and about their sexual health.

Ahrens and colleagues found the men who were aware of the cartoons were more likely than those unaware to have been tested recently for syphilis and to have greater knowledge about it. This effect was sustained for almost three years, according to evaluations published in PLoS Medicine.
"The social marketing campaign was effective in augmenting syphilis testing and increasing syphilis awareness and knowledge in the San Francisco gay and bisexual community," say the authors. "This effect might have contributed to decreased syphilis incidence in 2005."