Shuga’s a sweet deal for change

One of Africa’s biggest challenges is HIV and that is not because people do not know how it is transmitted or how to manage it. It is because of the generally negative attitudes toward the subject. People continue to have unprotected sex and rarely go for Aids tests, meaning that the spread of HIV/Aids is occurring at an alarming rate.

The media rarely help to disseminate positive information on the subject and instead promote material that encourages people to have many sexual encounters. There are also very few outspoken people, like NBA star, Magic Johnson, who live with the disease so it remains a scary subject to many.

The late Isidingo actress, Lesego Motsepe, disclosed that she was HIV-positive and not interested in taking ARVs. Instead, she preferred to self-medicate with homemade remedies. Her co-star, Hlubi Mboya, while mourning, said she felt things could have been different had Motsepe taken ARVs.

This is why it is commendable to see a thought-provoking show like MTV Shuga, a drama about young people and their socialisation patterns in a world touched by HIV/Aids. This is the show that launched Lupita Nyong’o back in 2009. Today the show has been made in several African countries.

So successful has the programme been that a report from the World Bank showed that it had a positive impact on its viewers and they were “twice as likely to get tested for HIV”.

“The experimental evaluation shows that MTV Shuga directly improved knowledge, attitude and behaviour related to HIV/Aids. The effects in several key outcomes were substantial and given the show’s global reach and low broadcast costs, MTV Shuga can potentially alter attitudes and behaviour of millions of individuals at low marginal costs,” said Victor Orozco, the principal investigator and economist from The World Bank’s Development Impact Evaluation (Dime).

This show is reminiscent of our own Soul City and Intersexions which both dealt with social change with the discussion of HIV/Aids taking centre stage.

“HIV prevention is not only a challenge for the health system, but also for the education, economic, social and cultural systems of our society. HIV has the potential to undermine our efforts to achieve improved quality basic education,” said South African Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga.

It is commendable that TV has this power on its viewers and positive news like this gives the continent hope against a disease that has destroyed so many families.

“We’re heartened to see that the work we’re doing with MTV Shuga is helping drive positive social change. To witness TV actually decreasing sexually transmitted infections is powerful, and MTV and the MTV Staying Alive Foundation are proud to stand behind this show,” said Georgia Arnold, executive director, MTV Staying Alive Foundation.

“MTV Shuga is moving to South Africa at a time when HIV prevalence is up to eight times higher among adolescent girls than among adolescent males in South Africa. (UNAids, 2015). While the total number of Aids-related deaths in all age groups fell by 35 percent between 2005 and 2013, Aids-related deaths in adolescents increased by 50 percent (Lancet Commission, 2015),” she added.

MTV Shuga is still in production.