ABSTRACT
The mass media tend frequently to be favoured by those wishing to influence large segments of the general population. The mass media also appeal because they suggest an easy answer to our problems; by definition, they will channel our messages and hence influence masses of people, thus ‘guaranteeing’ that we will successfully influence a countable number of people. Alternatives to the electronic non-personal mass media approach are not as appealing to the ‘health general’; they are less ‘sexy’, involve a great deal more planning and organisation, and do not foster a ‘D-day’ mentality. Justification for our continuing in the field of health education must include the recognition that the overwhelming proportion of health education programmes are of unknown value, principally due to an absence of evaluation. The task of prevention is to look upstream and focus on factors that influence the conditions that form an important part of the environment in which the problem exists.
