'TV Series Save Lives in Third World'

[icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu]

In parts of the Third World, television soap operas are saving lives, 
promoting social change and leading the fight against AIDS -- and mostly 
without even peeping into the bedroom. In India, "Detective Vijay" tackles 
issues ranging from wife-beating, the education of girls, female 
empowerment and HIV/AIDS in a soap opera aimed at rural males that has 
became one of the country's top 10 programs. In South Africa, the seven-
year old soap "Soul City" is watched by two-thirds of the population and 
has ventured into everything from AIDS and alcoholism to diarrhea and 
depression. In China, the daily drama "Ordinary People" has raised issues 
such as the traditional Chinese preference for sons, the mistreatment of 
women and the ostracizing of those with HIV/AIDS. U.S. soaps have 
incorporated social issues into popular entertainment for years, often 
exporting their series around the world.

Source:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?
type=healthNews&storyID=3846884&section=news