MTV Staying Alive Foundation (MTV SAF), Unitaid, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine on Wednesday announced a three-year partnership to introduce and evaluate storylines on HIV innovation, including HIV self-testing and preventive drugs (PrEP) into the award-winning drama series MTV Shuga.
MTV Shuga is designed to help millions of young viewers in French and English-speaking African countries protect themselves from HIV.
The effort, unveiled during the 22nd International AIDS Conference, will span Southern Africa and Western francophone Africa and deliver three new TV series of MTV Shuga, together with a multi-media campaign that promotes sexual health. The enhanced programme will target hard-to-reach populations, particularly people 15 to 24 years old.
MTV Shuga fuses hard-hitting storylines with sexual health messages to influence viewers’ attitudes and behaviour. The “edutainment” campaign also features a radio drama that expands on MTV Shuga storylines; print, digital and social media activity; and peer education programmes that challenge stigma and obstacles to young people’s sexual health.
The campaign—centered on HIV prevention and testing, preventive drugs known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), HIV self-testing, and HIV treatment— aims to show young people how to protect themselves from the virus, and to seek out treatment.
AIDS remains the leading cause of death among 10- to 24-year-olds in Africa, bolstering the case for innovations and investments that place a high priority on this age group. Through the MTV Shuga campaign, Unitaid and MTV SAF will shine a spotlight on young people’s real-life concerns.
Lelio Marmora, Executive Director of Unitaid, commented: “Millions of people in Africa watch MTV Shuga. Our partnership with MTV Staying Alive gives us a terrific opportunity to reach young people who don’t have reliable health information and empower them to take charge of their health—including testing themselves for HIV.”
Alex Okosi, Executive Vice President and Managing Director for Viacom International Media Networks Africa and BET International added: “MTV Shuga is a powerful campaign that educates and empowers our youth across a variety of issues that matter to them. At VIMN Africa we are proud to have been part of the journey of developing MTV Shuga since its inception, and to continue supporting the campaign across our network as we expand the series into new markets.”
Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine concluded: “We are delighted to be working with the MTV Staying Alive Foundation by leading studies in South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire to evaluate MTV Shuga’s impact on increasing the demand and uptake of HIV self-testing and PrEP. With its broad reach and popular appeal across Africa, MTV Shuga has the potential to stimulate awareness of and demand for prevention and treatment services, particularly for young women and men, among whom HIV risk remains persistently high.
MTV Shuga will continue to broadcast on MTV Base (DStv channel 322) and distributed across Viacom platforms globally, including FTA partners.
