St Francis celebrates World Aids Day
The event featured a candle-lighting ceremony, when each of the guests held a candle and everyone remained silent as they remembered those who died of the disease
The St Francis Care Centre commemorated World Aids Day on December 1 with its annual candle lighting ceremony.
This year’s theme was “global solidarity, shared responsibility”.
Representatives from the Boksburg Norths SAPS, Boksburg North Clinic, Mercy Haven, St Francis beneficiaries, staff and patients attended the event.
Sgt Madimetja Matwetja from the Boksburg North SAPS reiterated people who are HIV-positive must be treated with respect and dignity.
“They are people just like us. If we respect people with HIV, they will know that somebody is supporting them,” she said.
Former St Francis patient Lawrence Mahlulo shared his life story of living with HIV.
“I want to encourage people to get tested so that they can know their status. There is life after the disease. People who are HIV-positive must just take their medication and look after their health,” said Lawrence.
Centre manager Tilly Brouwer thanked staff members such as Thuli Mbatha, matron Winnie Dlamini and Cebile Maseko who contributed to the success of the event. She wished attendees a Merry Christmas and reminded guests to protect themselves against Covid-19.
The St Francis Care Centre children provided entertainment with songs and dance performances.
The event was ended with a candle lighting moment where each of the guests held a candle and everyone remained silent as they remembered those people who died of the disease.
Guests had the opportunity to test for HIV/Aids, high blood pressure, diabetes and undergo tuberculosis screening.
In commemoration of World Aids Day, radio personality Criselda Kananda took to Instagram to share an emotional message of how harsh this year of Covid-19 has been for her as a person who has been living with HIV for the past 22 years.
“This year for the first time was the hardest. In the 22 years of living healthily with HIV infection I could have never anticipated that I’d have my heart broken and the feeling of betrayal would lead me to a weak immune system, post traumatic disorder, ICU hospitalisation and for prevention of possible exposure to the coronavirus I made the decision to start ARVs,” reads part of her message.
Kananda also shared some stats of how many people had lost their lives to Aids, and how many are living with HIV worldwide and in South Africa alone.
“As of 2017, AIDS has killed 41.5m people worldwide, the reasons vary from person to person. An estimated 36.7m people are living with HIV, seven million of them are here in SA, making it one of the most important global public health issues in recorded history.”
Read the full message here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIPjFrPA2tK/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
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