Music and the arts are increasingly used in Southern Africa to reduce HIV-related stigma. However, due to lack of evidence underpinning their impact, rarely do the music and the arts become part of policy development or are they formally integrated into healthcare programmes. The objective of our project was to design and pilot a music, dance, and theatre-based intervention combatting HIV-stigma in urban and peri-urban Zimbabwe, and then to conduct a comprehensive, in-depth evaluation of its impact.

With this presentation, we will show a recording of the music/dance/theatre intervention (20-minutes long), followed by a discussion featuring: (1) the research conducted to identify key drivers of HIV-stigma in Zimbabwe; (2) how we used that data to develop the intervention; and (3) how we assessed the impact of the intervention.

The intervention had a significant positive effect on an individual’s support against discriminatory actions or policies towards HIV: respondents who watched the play had reduced levels of fear and judgement towards HIV. This project demonstrates the potential music and the arts can serve in reducing HIV-stigma, findings that could have widespread implications for HIV prevention, treatment, and care.