You are here

Article Text

Article menu

Download PDFPDF

Poster Presentations
PS01 – POSTER VIEWING SESSION – MONDAY
Monday, July 15, 2019 5:45 PM – 7:00 PM
P407 ‘MTV shuga’: mass media communication, HSV2 and sexual health in adolescent girls and young women in rural south africa
Free
  1. Maryam Shahmanesh1,
  2. Nondumiso Mthiyane2,
  3. Natsayi Chimbindi2,
  4. Thembelihle Zuma2,
  5. Jaco Dreyer2,
  6. Isolde Birdthistle3,
  7. Sian Floyd3,
  8. Nambusi Kyegombe3,
  9. Chris Grundy3,
  10. Siva Danaviah2,
  11. Theresa Smit2,
  12. Cherie Cawood4,
  13. Deenan Pillay2,
  14. Kathy Baisley5,
  15. Guy Harling1,
  16. Janet Seeley5
  1. 1University College London, Institute for Global Health, London, UK
  2. 2Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), Research, Mtubatuba, South Africa
  3. 3LSHTM, London, UK
  4. 4Epicentre, Durban, South Africa
  5. 5London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Research, London, UK

Abstract

Background Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) In South Africa are at high risk of HIV and early pregnancy. MTV-Shuga, a mass-media edu-drama, improved some sexual health outcomes in a randomised trial amongst young people in Nigeria. We used the national free-to-air TV screening of MTV-Shuga (the “Down South” series), concurrent with the roll-out of a large scale-up of combination HIV prevention for AGYW - to test the hypothesis that mass-media edu-drama can improve the sexual health of AGYW in a rural and resource-constrained area of KwaZulu-Natal.

Methods We followed a representative population-based prospective cohort of females aged 13–23 between May 2017 and September 2018. We measured the relationship between exposure to MTV-Shuga (i.e., reporting seeing ≥1 of 24 episodes; able to recall any storyline) and: incident HSV-2; incident pregnancy; condom use at last sex; uptake of HIV-testing and contraception; and awareness of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).

Results 2183 (85.5%) eligible participants were surveyed at baseline, of whom 1853 (86.5%) completed follow-up. MTV-Shuga exposure was low – 152 (8.2%) reported seeing ≥1 episode and 73 (3.9%) recalled any storyline – while teenage pregnancy and incident HSV-2 were high (6.4 and 11.3/100 person-years respectively). MTV-Shuga exposed AGYW were from wealthier households (p<0.001) and urban areas (p<0.001). After adjusting for confounders, MTV-Shuga watching was associated with significantly greater awareness of PrEP (aOR=3.3, 95%CI: 2.12, 5.14) and less likelihood (non-significant) of acquiring HSV-2 or early (<19 years-old) pregnancy (aOR=0.55, 95%CI: 0.24, 1.29).

Conclusion AGYW exposure to the MTV-Shuga edu-drama was very low in a setting where AGYW remain at high risk for STI, HIV and early pregnancy. Nevertheless, there is a suggestion that those who were exposed to MTV-Shuga had better sexual health outcomes. There is a need for strategies to raise uptake of such edu-dramas, and to evaluate whether wider coverage leads to population impact.

Disclosure No significant relationships.

  • South Africa
  • youth
  • health services

https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2019-sti.496

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.