Elders concerned about HIV/Aids deaths
'We can’t fold our arms and watch when week in and week out we bury our children.'
Elders from the Va-Nkuna Hosana Old-Age Home at Mariveni village have raised their concerns about the growing number of young HIV/Aids patients dying after defaulting on their antiretroviral treatment.
They organized a march on Saturday, which culminated in them handing over a memorandum of their grievances to the local leadership, including headman Hosana, Councillor Given Malatji and the representative of the church fraternal.
“We are very concerned as elders with the number of young people who are dying every day after defaulting on their ARV treatment. We can’t fold our arms and watch when week in and week out we bury our children.
“We should not have to use our pension grant to care for our grandchildren simple because their parents defaulted on their ARV and perished. The government has made serious progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS and we call upon all those infected to take advantage of these programmes,” said founder Catherine Mathye.
Addressing the delegates, Councillor Given Malatjie who is also the chairperson of the Health Portfolio Committee at the Greater Tzaneen Municipality said government takes the concerns raised by the elders seriously, and will in partnership with all sectors of society organize more campaigns to heighten awareness.
“The life expectancy of all South Africans has steadily increased since the administration of President Zuma in 2009. However, our biggest target is to raise the life expectancy of South Africans to at least 70 years by 2030, as envisioned in the Nation Development Plan.
“We have also said we want to produce a generation of under-20s that is largely free of HIV, and we shall fail to achieve that if the current generation of HIV patients fail to stay on track with their ARV treatment. We will work together with all stakeholders to raise awareness around this issue,” he said.
Headman Madala Hosana said that the traditional council will use all available platforms to raise the issue. “We appreciate the initiative by the elders. We also want to say that we are aware of the contributing factors to this defaulting – which is alcohol abuse. As parents we have a responsibility to provide leadership in our homes. We can’t relegate that responsibility. However, we are with you on this and we encourage everyone including couples to talk about HIV testing,” said Hosana.
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