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Television drama on multiple relationships on ZBC TV soon
Action
February 12, 2010

A new television drama exposing the complexities around multiple relationships and love in a time of HIV and AIDS, will be aired on the ZBC TV soon. The television drama will be launched through a "march" this week.

The television drama is entitled "Big House Small House" and will be screened in Shona with English sub-titles. Big House Small House, which will run for 24 minutes, will be packaged under a regional "Love Stories" Series which are films from 10 countries (including Zimbabwe) in the Southern Africa region implementing a regional HIV prevention campaign entitled OneLove. The film will also be broadcast in other regional broadcast stations in the ten countries after its launch in Zimbabwe.

On 12 February 2010, Action Institute for Environment, Health and Development Communication (IEHDC), a local non-governmental organisation whose focus is health development communication, in collaboration with the National AIDS Council (NAC) and various partners in the HIV prevention sector, are launching the film as part of the regional OneLove Campaign. The launch of the film will be through a "march", that will see stakeholders in the HIV prevention sector walk from Fourth Street along Jason Moyo Street, turning right into Julius Nyerere Way and end at Crowne Plaza Hotel where the film will be premiered.

Big House Small House was produced by Action IEHDC, in partnership with Theory X, a production company together with Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication, an NGO based in South Africa which was the executive producer. The film was made by Zimbabweans for Zimbabweans and is a story about love and betrayal and the dangers of engaging in Multiple and Concurrent Partnerships (MCPs).

The television drama series is part of the regional OneLove Campaign whose objective is to reduce the spread of HIV infections through a reduction in MCPs. The One Love campaign is currently running across Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe with Soul City coordinating this Campaign at regional level. Zimbabwe The local campaign was officially launched in June 2009 where the Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr. Henry Madzorera officiated at this event.

Despite intensive efforts to address the pandemic, Southern Africa has seen a steady increase in HIV prevalence over the past 20 years. In May 2006 a SADC think tank meeting in Maseru, Lesotho, identified MCPs between men and women - with low inconsistent condom use and in the context of low levels of male circumcision - as the key drivers of the HIV pandemic in Southern Africa. MCPs have also been identified as the major high-way contributing to HIV infection in Zimbabwe within the National Behaviour Change Strategy for HIV and AIDS for 2006 to 2011.

Key partners in the OneLove Campaign in Zimbabwe also include the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAFAIDS) and Zimbabwe Community Health Intervention Project (ZICHIRE-BC).

Action IEHDC together with ZICHIRE-BC launched the OneLove Campaign at community level in Murewa District in Mashonaland East Province on 12 November 2009 as part of the decentralisation of the campaign from national to district level. SAFAIDS and the UNFPA have produced OneLove print and electronic materials which complement the campaign. Action IEHDC is planning to translate Big House Small House into Ndebele this year and is currently producing print materials on MCP which will be distributed countrywide in the year.

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