Crowdsourcing based social awareness for taboo diseases like HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Creating social awareness for sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV/AIDS is critical. The 2015 UNAIDS statistics shows that newly infected cases of HIV/AIDS has fallen down by 35% since 2000, worldwide. However, the statistics of Fiji tells a different story. The newly infected HIV/AIDS cases in Fiji has been increasing every year since 2000. Different HIV/AIDS awareness programs have been launched previously such as, workshops and seminars. Despite these efforts, there has been no reduction in the newly infected HIV/AIDS cases. Fiji's health sector is still using traditional approaches for building public awareness. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to explore the benefits of crowdsourcing in developing the social awareness on taboo diseases among Fijians. Data for this study were collected through questionnaire and experimental methods from the people living with HIV as well as from the young Fijians, such as secondary and tertiary students. The result clearly showed that crowdsourcing can be an effective means of assisting Fiji's public health by reaching out to the remote areas, reducing the program costs, and assisting thousands of people simultaneously.