Sandton - Last night Uganda hosted a glamorous African awards ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Johannesburg. The African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet) announced the television drama series Tsha Tsha as the best mass media winner in the 2007 AfriComNet awards which honour individuals and organizations for innovation and excellence in HIV and AIDS communication in Africa.
An emotional Pontsho Makhetha, SABC Education's acting general manager, who accepted the attractively engraved plaque and said ‘We are humbled, Uganda has fought drastically to reduce the HIV and AIDS infection in their country, to be acknowledged and awarded by Uganda is an honour. Credit goes to the collective teams that are behind making Tsha Tsha such a credible initiative'.
Tsha Tsha focuses on young people living in a world affected by HIV/AIDS and other social problems. The series was broadcast between 2003 and 2006 during prime time on SABC1. Although produced for a youth target audience, the series drew viewers across age and language groups, and achieved an audience share of around 50% for the broadcast timeslot.
The AfriComNet awards acknowledge six best award-winning categories; mass media campaign, folk-media initiative, multi-channel communication, community-based communication and best HIV or AIDS-related article.
Tsha Tsha is produced by Curious Pictures and Centre for AIDS Development, Research and Evaluation for SABC Education. Support is provided by Johns Hopkins Health & Education in South Africa, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Centre for Communications and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the United States Agency for International Development.
