Gauteng commemorates World AIDS Day

In commemorating World AIDS Day, the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development this morning held an awareness campaign educating people about the illness at Park Station, Johannesburg.

The campaign which started at 6am saw about 300 health workers and volunteers teaching people in the vicinity about preventative measures as well as services available to those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. This team was distributing condoms as well as educational materials such as pamphlets and stickers.

Since the launch of a mass HIV testing campaign in April 2010, in Gauteng, 3.1 million people have come forward to be tested for HIV. The statistics have also revealed that one in eight (13%) adults is living with HIV and nearly one in three (29%) pregnant women is HIV positive.

In its efforts to fight the scourge of HIV and AIDS, the province has managed to reduce transmission of HIV from HIV from Mother to Child from 5.6% in 2009/10 to 2.3% in 2010/11.

Efforts to encourage pregnant women to test for HIV have resulted in an uptake of 98% in all facilities with ante-natal care services.

Addressing the people at the station, MEC Ntombi Mekgwe was pleased that more males are responding to the call to undergo medical male circumcision and this is one of the initiatives the department has scaled up to prevent new infections.

“When we launched this programme last year, only 16 783 males were circumcised.  Between April and June this year, we already circumcised 35 088 males at our facilities,” said MEC Mekgwe.

The province is also providing Anti-Retroviral Treatment to 501 426 people (including 21 794 children). These patients are receiving their treatment from 331 sites which is an increase from 79 at the end of March 2010.

MEC Mekgwe also urged everybody to go for HIV tests regularly.

“Regular checks will help you determine what steps to take if they discover that they are HIV positive. If you have tested negative, strive to remain negative,” she said adding that the message of Abstain, Be faithful and Condomise, remains relevant.

Following the address, MEC Mekgwe joined a march from Park Station to Newtown where the people of Gauteng listened to a keynote address from the National World AIDS Day event held in the Eastern Cape.

Enquiries: 
Simon Zwane
Cell: 082 551 9892