|
                   
|
In 1998, a group of HIV/AIDS activists believed that the epidemic was reaching a crucial stage as it moved from a phase of high rates of infection, to high rates of illness and death. As the epidemic became more visible, the idea of taking easily understood scientific information on all aspects of HIV/AIDS to a broad audience through television was born.
In 1999, Siyayinqoba Beat It! went on air for the first time. At that time not many people were open about their HIV/AIDS status. The first programme was dedicated to promoting and role modeling people living positively with HIV. From the outset, the programme was driven by the real concerns of people living with HIV/AIDS who also presented and helped craft the shows.
Siyayinqoba Beat It! targets all people living with HIV and AIDS: our partners, families, friends, colleagues and caregivers. It is aimed at this community as a whole - and is therefore a family programme. Siyayinqoba Beat It! inserts typically address all HIV positive people: from HIV positive moms, youth, to HIV positive men who have discovered safer sex through conquering their fear of the disease through treatment. In the same breath, it addresses all who care for people living with HIV/AIDS. The programme appeals to anyone who has been directly affected by HIV; and in today’s South Africa, almost everyone has had some first hand experience of HIV, and many feel the need to be proactive in responding to the epidemic. Siyayinqoba Beat It! equips ordinary people to respond to an extraordinary situation.
Siyayinqoba Beat It! has been produced in cooperation with SABC Education on SABC 1 since 2004. Siyayinqoba Beat It! is now in its fourth season with SABC Education. Prior to 2004, the show was broadcast for three seasons on eTV. The 2008 series is currently being run on various community television networks throughout South Africa.
Embracing the theme of "Get Informed, Get Involved!" a group of young community journalists take the lead in the 2009 season of Siyayinqoba Beat It! which takes to the screen in September. At the helm of the well-known programme about people living with HIV/AIDS is anchor Nokubonga Yawa, a vibrant young woman living openly with HIV.
The group of 10 community journalists, some of whom are living with HIV, investigate and report on a range of issues from teenage pregnancy, to male circumcision, to long-term survival. Each issue is seen through the eyes of a young person, who is directly affected - such as the 16 year-old mother in Episode 1, who describes her determination to pass her year-end exams despite being pregnant. Each episode brings us face to face with a particular challenge facing people living with HIV and their support networks - partners, family, friends and health workers. As our Community Journalists take us on this journey we learn about solutions which allow us all to overcome these challenges and beat HIV and AIDS.
Siyayinqoba Beat It! is premised on the idea that treatment and prevention are interdependent processes and that prevention information is for everyone – HIV negative and positive together. Key messages highlighted on the show and in all of Siyayinqoba Beat It! advertising communications include: regular testing and starting ARV treatment at the right time; reporting sexual abuse and rape (a major contributing factor to the spread of the disease), alcohol abuse and its relation to risky sexual practices; partner reduction, as more partners means more risk, less partners means less risk, and encouraging safer sex always.
|
