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Promoting HIV/AIDS Prevention through Soap Operas: Tanzania’s Experience with Maisha

Tanzania’s Experience with Maisha

William J. Brown
Regent University
Steven Kiruswa,
Regent University
Benson P. Fraser Benson P. Fraser
Regent University
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Promoting HIV/AIDS Prevention through Soap Operas: Tanzania’s Experience with Maisha. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 22(2), 90-111. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v22i2.1810
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  • Submited: October 23, 2022
  • Published: October 24, 2022

Abstract

In the past three decades television soap operas have been used as a means of health
education and persuasion. In recent years, the proliferation of entertainment television
worldwide has made the soap opera a powerful source of educational and social messages.
One of the most critical global health issues of today is the need to reduce HIV/AIDS
infection, particularly on the continent of Africa. In the 1990s, the country of Tanzania
broadcast a highly effective radio soap opera to promote HIV/AIDS prevention. In 2000,
Tanzania again employed the use of the soap opera to address HIV/AIDS as well as other
social issues, this time through television. Our research indicates that the Tanzanian
television soap opera employed in this effort, Maisha, effectively promoted HIV/AIDS
prevention among television viewers. In particular, those who were more involved with
Mashaka, the star of Maisha, were more powerfully influenced by the health messages
communicated through the programme. The implications of this research for using
entertainment for HIV/AIDS prevention are discussed

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How to Cite
Promoting HIV/AIDS Prevention through Soap Operas: Tanzania’s Experience with Maisha. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 22(2), 90-111. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v22i2.1810

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