MTV's revolutionary African show 'Shuga' has made a real difference in the fight against HIV

The World Bank did a study to see how the 10-year-long show about real sex and life issues affected young viewers. It found that those who watched the show were twice as likely to get tested for HIV.

Telling real and raw stories of young people in places like Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria, the MTV series sprung up from MTV’s Staying Alive brand. Originally set up to produce narratives that would encourage healthy practices among young viewers, Staying Alive came out with documentaries about HIV in the 1990s, when the spread of the disease was rampant. Staying Alive went from a brand on MTV to its own nonprofit operating out of the U.S. and U.K., and its content evolved from documentaries to scripted drama series.

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