sexualhealthupdate03

Ministry of Health Sexual Health Campaign.

Sexual Health Update

22 November 2004
Issue 3

Kia ora tatou katoa, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Kia orana, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Ni sa bula, Taloha ni and greetings.

Months of hard work by many dedicated people culminated today in the launch of the youth sexual health campaign No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba. The campaign was launched at Parliament by Minister of Health, Hon Annette King.

The No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba commercial is set at a hip hop party, and uses a mixture of animation and 'real people'. Sexually active young people are urged to use a condom - every time.

Campaign materials also discuss the wider issues of youth sexual health - such as the consequences of having sex.

Young people are encouraged to think carefully about the sexual decisions they make.

The first campaign television commercial begins running today, and other campaign media will start shortly. The campaign runs until the end of February 2005.

I cannot stress enough the amazing on-going support and input the campaign team has received from the sexual health sector. We could not have done it without you!

Kia ora and kind regards

Sally Hughes
Project Manager, Sexual Health Campaign
Ministry of Health

Campaign character Hubba Joe

To view the Hubba Hubba commercial check out the website

www.hubba.co.nz

In this issue:

- No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba has strong message
- Campaign looks at wider youth sexual health issues
- About No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba
- Campaign resources
- The Hubba Hubba website
- Campaign facts at a glance
- Events diary

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Family Planning is looking forward to this campaign, which we understand is likely to be controversial. There's no point in a public health campaign unless it reaches its target audience and causes them to think - and that's what we are looking forward to.

Dr Gill Greer, Family Planning Association Executive Director

The New Zealand Venereological Society welcomes the Ministry of Health's safer sex campaign. Messages supporting informed choice and condom use are essential to promote the sexual health and well being of young New Zealanders.

Kitty Flannery, President, New Zealand Venereological Society

Congratulations to all involved in getting, hopefully, the first of New Zealand's much needed sexual wake up calls out into the public arena, in this campaign. It is fantastic that we are finally talking about this, because STIs and unwanted teenage pregnancies are preventable. There are choices! Best wishes for a successful campaign and can't wait for the next one......and the one after that!

Dr Rosy Fenwicke

The new sexual health campaign, with its focus on condom use, is timely, as HIV rates continue to increase in all risk groups - heterosexual, men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) and injecting drug users. The campaign will highlight the 'use a condom' message to young people throughout the country.

Rachael Le Mesurier, Executive Director of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation

No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba has strong message

The Ministry of Health's Acting Director of Public Health, Dr Douglas Lush, says he is right behind the strong message delivered by the No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba youth sexual health campaign.

"We can pretend that our young people are not sexually active, and watch our STI rates continue to climb. Or we can be proactive and realistic and give sexually active teens the tools to protect themselves against chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and other sexually transmitted viruses and infections.

Dr Sue Bagshaw, a youth sexual health specialist says that the campaign's message to teenagers to use a condom is vital.

"Condoms protect against chlamydia, gonorrhoea and HIV. I see young people with STIs every day. Many of them don't understand just how easy it is to contract, and pass on, an STI. As the campaign points out, if you pass on an STI to one person, they may pass it on to two people and so on. Before long a large number of people are infected."

Dr Bagshaw warns that teenagers can pay a high price for risky sexual health practices. "If left untreated, complications from chlamydia, for example, can include pelvic inflammatory disease, tubal scarring and subsequent pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy and infertility."

The No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba campaign runs from 22 November to the end of February 2005. The campaign uses a variety of media, including television, cinema, radio, outdoor advertising, magazines, print resources and a website.

Campaign looks at wider youth sexual health issues

Encouraging sexually active young people to use condoms is only one facet of the No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba campaign. The television commercials capture teenagers' attention and lead them to other campaign components. The campaign materials and website also discuss the wider issues of youth sexual health - such as the consequences of having sex. Young people are encouraged to think carefully about the sexual decisions they make. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to talk to their teenagers about sex, and to discuss the wider issues like understanding that sexual relationships involve caring, concern and responsibility.

The campaign is one aspect of the Ministry of Health's Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy which also includes extensive work on the wider issues of youth sexual health carried out by sexual health providers. These providers will use the campaign as a springboard for their activities in the coming year.

The Health and Physical Education Curriculum for New Zealand schools also has an important role to play in providing young people with balanced, evidence-based information about sexual health and sexual activity. Through these programmes young people get the opportunity to examine attitudes and values relating to sexuality and rehearse refusal and negotiation skills that will equip them for future sexual relationships.

About No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba

No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba is a 30-second commercial that uses hip hop music and animation to portray a party scene. Animated characters are interspersed with real people.

The commercial begins on a stage where a young hip hop crew is performing. They are singing a song called hubba hubba, with the chorus "If ya don't got the rubba, there'll be no hubba hubba." The party is packed with young characters - dancing, laughing, having a great time.

The camera then moves to another room, where we see a young male and female sitting on a couch. They are the only real people in the commercial. They're very keen on each other and things are getting fairly heated.

Suddenly the lead animated character approaches the couple, singing the 'hubba hubba' soundtrack. The couple looks up as the animated character repeats the final line of the chorus "If ya don't got the rubba, there'll be no hubba hubba". They nod in agreement with the safer sex message.

A second version of the commercial, to be released later in the campaign, features a male-male couple on the couch.

Finding the Hubba Hubba concept

Finding the right concept is key for any campaign. The concept has to convey the campaign messages in a way that is acceptable to different cultures, easily understood, and appealing and appropriate for the age group. Youth campaigns are particularly challenging as the message needs to be delivered in a way that gets buy-in from young people, and that isn't perceived by them as being 'try-hard', or 'uncool', or as yet another attempt by adults to tell them what to do.

Once the concept is selected, it forms the basis of most of the campaign media - television and radio commercials, posters, print advertising, outdoor advertising, website and so on.

A number of potential campaign concepts were developed following discussions with teenagers. These were then tested with nine groups of sexually active young people. The aim of the concept testing was to find the commercial that would most effectively communicate the importance of using a condom every time you have sex, with the widest group of young people.

Feedback from the test groups highlighted a number of issues:

an upbeat, positive and non-judgmental tone was appreciated by participants

youth like to feel empowered and in charge of making their own decisions - they do not want to be told what to do

for a television commercial to have cut-through it must portray a realistic situation, and one in which sex taking place later is a realistic possibility

new and interesting information was appreciated.

The Hubba Hubba concept clearly had the most 'cut through' - it was liked by young people, grabbed their attention and delivered the message effectively. This concept had strong appeal to all groups, but in particular to Maori and Pacific males and females and Pakeha males.

The young people consulted felt that the message portrayed by Hubba Hubba was credible and relevant for their age group. It clearly gave the message 'if you are having sex, use a condom', without being 'preachy'.

Campaign resources

Several resources have been developed to support the campaign messages. They are:

Talking with your teenager/rangatahi about safer sex - A5 booklet for parents/caregivers

No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba - A6 booklet for teens about safer sex

No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba - A3 campaign poster featuring 'Hubba Joe'.

You can order free copies of these resources from the Ministry of Health's storage and distribution centre by:

emailing moh@wickliffe.co.nz
telephoning 04 496 2277
writing to Ministry of Health Publications, c/- Wickliffe Press, PO Box 932, Dunedin.

Please provide a physical address, contact details and a phone number.

The Hubba Hubba website

The campaign website www.hubba.co.nz gives young people the opportunity to rehearse decisions about sexuality and sexual health through interactive scenarios using the characters from the television commercial.

They have the opportunity to see what the consequences are of different courses of action such as not using a condom. It also contains information about sexual decision-making, safer sex and STIs as well as contact numbers for sexual health services.

Campaign facts at a glance

No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba aims to encourage sexually active young people (15 to 19 years) to use a condom to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections.

The campaign advertising will run from 22 November 2004 to the end of February 2005.

The campaign will use a variety of media, including TV, cinema, radio, outdoor advertising, magazines, web advertising and print resources.

Working closely with the sexual health sector has been a priority for the campaign team.

It is important that campaign messages enhance existing work, rather than put an additional workload on people who are already very busy.

The campaign was developed with ongoing support and advice from a working group made up of key organisations with an interest in sexual health. Working group members include representatives from the Family Planning Association, the NZ AIDS Foundation, Te Puawai Tapu, the NZ Prostitutes Collective, sexual health physicians, district health boards and the Ministry of Health.

More detailed information on STIs and condom use is available on the campaign website (www.hubba.co.nz). Articles in youth magazines will encourage the use of condoms by sexually active young people, and events will also be used to further promote the message and to distribute more detailed information.

Events diary

The No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba campaign will have a presence at the following events:

Event	Date
Sex in the Park	27 November (Christchurch)
Big Day Out	21 January 2005 (Auckland)
University orientation	February 2005 (national)
Big Gay Out	February 2005 (Auckland)
National Kapa Haka Festival	24 to 28 February 2005 (Palmerston North)
Edgefest	12 March 2005 (Auckland) 13 March 2005 (Hamilton) 18 March 2005 (Wellington) 19 March 2005 (Christchurch)
Youth Rally	27 November (Kawerau)
Youth Day	5 December (New Plymouth)

Sexual Health Update can be accessed on the Ministry of Health website www.moh.govt.nz/publications/newsletters

Download this newsletter

You can download Issue 3 of Sexual Health Update below in PDF format.

Sexual Health Update November 2004 (PDF, 409kB)

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Related information

Issue 1 of Sexual Health Update

Issue 2 of Sexual Health Update

Issue 4 of Sexual Health Update

Other Ministry of Health newsletters

New Youth Sexual Health Campaign Pulls No Punches 22 November 2004
A new television commercial has a strong message for teens, No Rubba, No Hubba Hubba. The commercial is part of the Ministry of Health's campaign to reduce high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in teenagers. The campaign was launched at Parliament today by the Minister of Health, Hon Annette King.

New sexual health campaign will encourage condom use 26 August 2004
The Ministry of Health is developing a sexual health campaign aimed at encouraging sexually active young people to protect themselves when having sex. With New Zealand's rapidly growing rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the campaign provides an exciting opportunity to promote safer sex messages and condom use.

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