More youth-friendly HIV/Aids services made available

Many young people are infected and affected by HIV. To curb higher infection rates, young people thus need to be considered.

Bradley Monyai (24) spoke on his experiences of working at public health facilities and rendering more youth-friendly HIV/Aids services.

Monyai works at a clinical service division, leading paediatric, adolescent and youth-friendly services in six Aurum Institute supported hospitals, including Bertha Gxowa Hospital.

“Only a few young people are aware of the services offered, especially those we find on the system living with HIV.

“If we can reach them telephonically, we can introduce them to youth-friendly services, which entails allocating a special day for them in a week.

“This will allow only those in a certain age group to meet and have the opportunity to consult either a doctor, professional nurse, social worker, dietician or available clinician.

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“I have an undergraduate degree in social work and I am enrolled for my masters with the University of the Witwatersrand.

“I advocate for marginalised and vulnerable populations to identify and link them to resources, particularly looking at the proactive implementation of social policies and an informed facilitated social development. HIV/Aids is also a social condition,” said Monyai.

He said young people often indicate that they experience hostile health-care workers which leads to them not returning for medical care.

“Hospitals should uphold ethical and professional standards when rendering HIV services.

“Ubuntu should be at the forefront of service delivery, bearing in mind that people also may avoid treatment because of various behavioural aspects. We aim to ensure service users are welcomed by primary health-care facilities,” said Monyai.

Monyai said South Africa is to be commended.

“Research is increasing and case finding continues to progress. However, we pay attention to numbers to prove our endeavours to curb higher rates of HIV while paying little emphasis on public health facilities that render HIV/Aids services.

“To curb this increasing rate, it is important for us to maximise the reach of younger persons with the virus. When rendering HIV/Aids services, it is mandatory that we take into cognizance their lifestyles and how we plan on pitching the idea of safe sex, how to access care and understanding living with HIV.”

He said younger people with HIV grow up with a negative self-image because when educated about HIV, it is often correlated with promiscuity while contracting it from birth as a possibility is not discussed.

He said the misconceptions around the virus, particularly looking at how it is transmitted, should be explored.

“People contract HIV/Aids in various ways. We must empower people with HIV to remind them of how to exercise their rights when seeking services.”

He reminded health-care workers that working with people requires delicacy, patience and that they uphold the oaths they took to protect and advance society.

“We should normalise having dialogues around HIV/Aids.”

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