Telenovelas Used To Promote Safe Sex, HIV Testing
AltaMed Health Services, a not-for-profit chain of federally qualified health centers in Southern California, released the second season of its telenovelas in mid-March. And it's not the only one utilizing that method to address behaviors that could lead to poor health outcomes.
Modern Healthcare:
Acción! Telenovelas Send A Public Health Message
You're the only one for me!” a young tow truck driver named Hector exclaims passionately as he inconspicuously pushes away a condom handed to him by his girlfriend, Christina. She gazes into his eyes … then turns away, hesitant about the risk of unsafe sex. Cue intense musical interlude and dramatic fade to black, and you have a scene from a soap opera called “Sin Vergüenza” (“Without Shame”). (3/26)
See past coverage of other outreach efforts via telenovelas: Telenovelas, Spanish Website Seek To Inform Hispanics About Kidney Donations.
And in other news —
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Are We Closing In On HIV?
With the help of vaccines, infectious diseases that have haunted humanity for thousands of years have been turned into historical curiosities. Smallpox, which killed from 300 million to 500 million people in the 20th century, is extinct. Polio is nearly gone, having been put on the path to extinction with the first effective polio vaccine, developed by a team led by the late Dr. Jonas Salk. (Fikes, 3/26)