25 May 2014

Former Big Brother housemate Zibanani Madumo, popularly known as O'neal says the Wise Up Shuga initiative should be considered as an add-on to existing initiatives for reducing HIV infections among the youth in Botswana.

Speaking at the launch of the Wise Up Shuga initiative, he said Botswana was committed to the fight against HIV and AIDS.

“Our priority as a country is to reduce new HIV infections and young people are our main target since they are our pride and window of hope,” he said.

O'neal said the spread of HIV was a serious issue that needed attention and multiple targeted interventions that would bring about behaviour change.

He said the Shuga initiative was a multi-mass media behaviour change communication initiative targeting youth aged 15 to 24 to equip them with vital services including HIV counselling, testing, treatment and care.

“I am very excited by the fact that this initiative uses multi-media which young people very much associate with and hence can be used as a tool to communicate HIV prevention information to young people in a more effective way,” he said.

He further said results from Botswana AIDS Impact Survey revealed that young people were still engaging in risky behaviours such as having multiple concurrent partnerships, early sexual debut, low circumcision rate, low levels of testing, high consumption of alcohol and drug abuse and low use of condoms.

“The study also revealed that more than 50 per cent of young people in Botswana are insufficiently informed about HIV and AIDS and are therefore not equipped to begin taking necessary steps to protect themselves from infection,” he said.

O'neal said it was therefore necessary to equip young people with relevant information which should be accompanied by skills development and service provision.

He implored the community to lend their support to the Shuga initiative.

“Parents at home must help young people adopt self-preserving behaviours and make time to discuss pertinent issues with your children so as to dispel existing myths and misconceptions,” he said.

Shuga is a global initiative with programme activities in Kenya, Nigeria and now Botswana.

It features a cast of popular and upcoming artistes including Academy Award winning actress Lupita N’yongo who played Aiyra in the first series.

The Shuga initiative is produced by MTV Networks Africa in association with the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, through a partnership with US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the partnership for an HIV free generation and the government of Kenya.

The initiative is funded by the US government through PEPFAR and has been adopted by the government of Botswana. ENDS