Hands up for HIV prevention
The efforts to increase awareness on HIV/AIDS have been successful over the years and more than 15 million people worldwide have been provided access to anti-retroviral drugs.
WORLD AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year, and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate the people who have died from the dreaded disease. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day, held for the first time in 1988.
Globally there are an estimated 34 million people who are living with the virus. Despite the virus only being identified in 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history. World AIDS Day is important because it reminds the public and government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education.
The province of KZN has the highest burden of HIV incidence and the biggest treatment programme in South Africa. To date, the province has more than 1.3 million people on the Anti-Retroviral treatment programme, which is the biggest in the country.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo will lead various activities today to commemorate World Aids Day to mark the global theme which says, “Hands Up for HIV Prevention” as well as the South African theme, “It’s in our hands to end HIV and TB”.
The efforts to increase awareness on HIV/AIDS have been successful over the years and more than 15 million people worldwide have been provided access to anti-retroviral drugs.
The province initiated programmes such as the Nurse Initiated and Managed Anti-Retroviral Treatment (NIMART) as part of the response to fight HIV and Aids. NIMART mainly capacitated nurses to be able to initiate and manage patients on the Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART), a function which used to be mainly doctor driven.
It has also encouraged medical male circumcision to minimise risks of HIV Infections among young boys, a dual protection campaign to limit exposure to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and well as unplanned teenage pregnancies and the universal test and treat to afford people access to immediate treatment programme.
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