TeleFutura’s ‘Asi es la Vida’ awarded Sentinel for Health Award.

It was announced last week that the TeleFutura Network primetime dramatic series “Asi es la Vida” (That’s Life) was awarded the prestigious Sentinel for Health Award by the Hollywood, Health & Society project at their annual awards banquet held in Los Angeles.

The Sentinel for Health Awards are funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute to recognize exemplary achievements of television storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives. In its eighth year, the Awards recognize storylines in daytime dramas, primetime dramas and comedies, and telenovelas. The “Asi es la Vida” episodes titled “Con Dominio Total,” winner in the telenovela category, was a 5-part storyline dealing with the issue of safe-sex practices, developed in collaboration with the “Salud es Vida – ¡Entérate!” campaign, a partnership of Univision and the Kaiser Family Foundation .

“While we are always happy to receive awards for our programming efforts, it is especially gratifying to be acknowledged for something as important as promoting a healthy lifestyle for our viewers,” said Bert Medina, Senior Vice President and Operating Manager, TeleFutura Network. “This project was conceived and initiated by the network to air within our highly visible primetime dramatic series.”

“Asi es la Vida” (That’s Life) shows the power of popular media to inform about important health and social issues, such as AIDS, while entertaining and engaging its audience,” said Tina Hoff, Vice President and Director of Entertainment Media Partnerships at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Hollywood, Health & Society is a joint project of the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Launched in 2001, the ¡Entérate! campaign provides young Hispanics (under 25) with information and resources on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and related issues. The campaign co-produces public service ads (PSAs) on HIV/AIDS and related issues for the Univision and TeleFutura Networks (and cable network Galavision), as well as provides free print and web-based resources available at www.univision.com (keyword: Entérate) and through the campaign’s toll-free hotline (1-866-TU SALUD).