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New BOOM!Health Social Marketing Campaign Hits the Streets of the Bronx to Combat HIV and Hepatitis C

By BOOM! Health / Oct 21, 2013

Bronx, New York (October 21, 2013) — Today, BOOM!Health launched a new social marketing ad campaign on 60 MTA buses and multiple subway stops to encourage Bronx residents to know their HIV and hepatitis C status by getting tested and engaging in treatment. The Bronx-based nonprofit provides comprehensive prevention, health, housing, legal and wellness services for over 8,000 New Yorkers.

Despite the fact that effective treatments are available for HIV and hepatitis C is curable, AIDS related deaths, hepatitis C infections are stubbornly high in the Bronx, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Overall, the Bronx has the greatest percentage of ZIP codes – 68 percent – in the top 20 percent citywide for multiple STDs, including HIV and hepatitis C.

Jose Davila, BOOM!Health’s president and chief administrative officer exclaims, “We are confronting these pressing health problems head-on through this reality-based ad campaign, coupled with a comprehensive service model that approaches these issues from a public health perspective, without judgment.”

Robert Cordero, president and chief program officer of BOOM!Health explains, “In this day and age of short attention spans, social media clutter and sound bites, we realized that in order to break through with our message we needed to keep it simple and straightforward.” The thirty-day ad campaign, which is supported by Evers Pharmacy and the Gilead Foundation, uses colorful signage and catch phrases, such as “Have Sex? Get tested for HIV,” and “Got Tats? Get tested for Hep C,” to draw attention to risk factors for HIV and viral hepatitis C transmission. Other eye-popping MTA ad messages include, “Born 1945-1965? 1 in 30 baby boomers have hepatitis C. Get Tested,” and “Do Drugs? Get tested for Hep C.”

Diana Hernandez, PhD, BOOM!Health board member and an assistant professor at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health states, “We believe that this bilingual (Spanish and English) social marketing campaign will result in many more Bronxites getting tested for HIV and hepatitis C, while creating greater awareness that will result in a healthier and safer New York. And we plan to measure the impact of this edgy campaign on how we can effectively reach those in our community who are unaware of their status and to connect them to high quality medical care and treatment.”