Majority of Gauteng residents know their HIV/Aids status
JOBURG - The Gauteng Department of Health revealed that 65 percent of the population in the province know their HIV/Aids status, while 68 percent were on antiretroviral treatment.
Gauteng MEC for Health, Qedani Mahlangu, revealed this as the department commemorated the 17th Anniversary of the Partnership against HIV/Aids. The department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, said the partnership was launched in 1998 as part of the government’s concerted effort to fight the HIV/Aids pandemic by calling upon all South Africans to join hands in the fight against the disease.
“As we commemorate this momentous day and take stock of how far we have come as a nation, it is an opportune time for us all to reflect on what we have done individually to stop the spread of HIV/Aids,” said Mahlangu. The MEC also took the opportunity to remind the public that the power to defeat the spread of HIV/Aids lay in partnerships across communities.
She added that through the HIV and Counselling Testing campaign, the Gauteng provincial government would be collaborating with 18 civil sector organisations that were currently represented at the Gauteng Aids Council, to test more than a million people by the end of November this year.
The campaign will be continued through a series of outreach activities that are scheduled for the months of October and November, as part of the build-up to World Aids Day on 1 December which will be observed in Tshwane.
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