JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

MTV Shuga is an edutainment campaign designed to equip young people with knowledge and motivation to protect themselves from HIV infection. In 2019-2020, 10 episodes of a new series “Down South 2” (DS2) were broadcast via television and internet, alongside complementary media activities.

Objective:

We investigated whether intensity of DS2 exposure was linked with positive HIV prevention outcomes in a high-prevalence HIV setting.

Methods:

We analysed data from a web-based survey of 15-24 year-olds in South Africa, in 2020. The survey was promoted via social media platforms of schools, universities and communities in Eastern Cape. We estimated associations between intensity of DS2 exposure (the number of Shuga DS2 episodes watched on TV or internet or listened to on the radio) and outcomes including knowledge of HIV status, awareness of HIV self-testing (HIVST) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and uptake of HIVST, adjusting for confounders with multivariable logistic regression

Results:

Among 3,431 survey participants, 24% (n=827) were exposed to DS2. Specifically, 18% (n=622) watched or listened to one episode only and 2.4%, 1.7%, and 1.8% watched or listened to 2-4, 5-7, and 8-10 episodes, respectively. Increasing exposure to DS2 was associated with improvements in most outcomes. Exposure to multiple episodes (2-4; 5-7; 8-10) was associated with successively higher odds of knowing one’s HIV status, awareness of PrEP and HIVST, and uptake of HIVST, compared to no Shuga exposure, albeit with statistical uncertainty around some estimates. Interest in using HIVST or PrEP was high overall (>80%), with no differences by DS2 intensity.

Conclusions:

We found evidence consistent with a dose-response relationship between MTV Shuga DS2 and HIV prevention outcomes among young people in South Africa. Few individuals viewed multiple episodes, indicating potential to benefit more young people by increasing access to the show.