Educating women for HIV prevention: does exposure to mass media make them more knowledgeable?

Mass media is an important vehicle for health promotion in developing countries. In Bangladesh multiple media campaigns are being carried out to educate people about HIV/AIDS. We examined the extent of HIV/AIDS knowledge and the association of exposure to mass media among women in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) provides data for this article. We found that media exposure (combined index of television, radio, and newspaper) was a highly significant predictor of women's knowledge about HIV and AIDS. Other significant predictors of HIV knowledge include women's education, age, employment, and urban residence.