The following are some principles to guide the formulations of communications frameworks for HIV/AIDS communications interventions at the national level:

• Target Audiences should be clearly identified in the framework, so their specific needs can be addressed appropriately.
• Media environments are changing rapidly, so partnerships with the media should be cultivated to encourage leaders in media organisations to advance appropriate HIV/AIDS communications.
• Communications interventions should be seen as a combination of mass media and interpersonal communications.
• An adaptable communications framework ought to be based on a combination of strategies focusing on the contextual elements of government policy, socioeconomic status, culture, gender relations, and spirituality.
• Communications strategies should address the entire range of health services - from prevention to care
• Community-based approaches to intervention, wherein community members and institutions are involved from the planning phase, should be supported.
• Opinion leaders should be mobilised and included in communications strategies, particularly in interpersonal communication.
• Communications should be targeted to people in communities who can be channels of information, such as teachers and traditional healers.
• Communication message construction for HIV/AIDS should involve both the sender and the receiver. Use an inclusive, eclectic approach rather than an "either-or" model.
• Familiar contexts, wherein sender and receiver are relating to similar cultural codes and meanings, should be the foundation of communications interventions.
• Regional, national, and local strategies that promote conceptual and practical ownership of a project should be encouraged.
• Regional contexts should influence communications strategies.
• An institution can be considered as much a channel or medium as an individual.
• Interpersonal communication, particularly when addressing issues that are considered to be cultural or spiritual, should be strongly encouraged.
• Support for prevention communications should be strengthened, given that the limitations of new combination drug treatments may create a false sense of security in the most vulnerable populations.