New Delhi, Sep 9 - There are a few serials highlighting women's issues, one on child marriage and lots of family dramas. Now producers should touch upon topics related to health like hygiene, AIDS awareness and immunisation, says the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), which has launched a series called 'Kyunki...Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai' on Doordarshan(DD) .

'We can't imagine producers of commercial theme-based TV shows spending a lot of time in dealing with issues like HIV-AIDS and polio, but I'm quite sure they can do it in a little way to help society,' Alka Malhotra, programme communication specialist of Unicef India, told IANS in an interview.

'Basic issues like washing one's hands properly and general cleanliness can surely be highlighted in a subtle way. More critical issues can be interspersed in the script or if possible they can even build a separate track in their shows about health-related issues like diarrhoea immunisation for children, etc,' she said.

'Kyunki...Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai' tries to promote pro-social attitudes and practices that contribute directly to the reduction of infant and maternal mortality rates.

Unicef identifies critical child-related problems through extensive research and works with a creative team to highlight the ways to avoid or overcome those issues in a wise way on the show, Malhotra said.

'Our research for the show is based on Indian data. Basically, we try and take up issues around the survival, development and protection of children. Issues like breastfeeding the child within half an hour of birth, etc., are the kinds of things we would like to create awareness for in society,' she explained.

Popular TV actress Tina Parekh, who has been a part of successful commercial shows like 'Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki' and 'Kasauti Zindagi Kay', is also acting in 'Kyunki.