Cambodia Turns to Soap Opera in Fight Against AIDS

In its latest efforts to contain HIV, Cambodia has launched a soap opera with an AIDS theme. Following a condom campaign targeting Cambodia's sex industry, AIDS campaigners are shifting their focus to families, trying to prevent the many thousands of husbands who regularly visit prostitutes from passing HIV on to their wives. The 12 episodes follow a young couple that is driven apart because the man, Khieu, is too poor to marry. Mom, his girlfriend, is lured to Phnom Penh under false pretenses; she ends up working in a brothel, where she becomes the mistress of a rich businessman. A year later, Mom and Khieu are reunited -- and when it becomes clear she has AIDS, he takes her back to the countryside and nurses her until she dies. The series airs on several national channels, and each episode is followed by a talk show on AIDS and sex.

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