Pinetown Clinic cares for young people’s health
During the clinic's open day, guests were informed about PrEP, a pill that helps to prevent HIV for HIV negative people.
PINETOWN Clinic, with the support of Pinetown NPO, YouthGate Development, hosted an open day to showcase all the services they offer especially for the young people.
What was emphasised to the young people that attended and many other guests was the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
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Nursing Services manager at the clinic, Nonhlanhla Shangase, said PrEP is a pill that helps to prevent HIV for HIV negative people.
“We started offering it in May this year and we are one of the two municipal clinics in eThekwini that currently have it,” said Shangase.
She said they are targeting girls mostly between the ages of 15 to 24 years as they are the vulnerable ones and are at a high risk of being infected with the disease.
“The pill, which is taken once a day, comes with a family planning package and young people are advised to use protection as this pill does not prevent pregnancies and other sexually transmitted diseases,” explained Shangase.
She urged young people to come to the clinic should they need health advice and treatment.
“The clinic has an Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services ( AYFS) where they can be be given full attention and is available in most clinics.”
The AYFS was launched in 2017 after the realisation that most young people are too scared to visit and get assistance at the clinics because they are afraid of being judged.
There are also ‘happy hour’ time slots during which the focus is entirely on young people on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1pm to 3pm.
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