MBOMBELA – This province was rated second highest nationwide of people living with HIV/Aids.
Structures that play a significant role in fighting the disease have vowed that they are going to continue working to fulfil the wish of the provincial chairperson of the Mpumalanga Aids Council, Mr David Mabuza, to drastically reduce the level of infection and affection.
This was evident as various structures attended and shared strategies at the
12th Districts Aids Council at Ehlanzeni Disaster Centre.
The district chairperson of the council, Cllr Letta Shongwe indicated that she was impressed with the functionality of the structures (local aids councils)
“This is one of the very important programmes of the premier, that all local aids councils must work hard and I am very pleased about the commitment they have shown. Indeed, we are moving in a positive direction in terms of producing an HIV/Aids-free generation,” she said.
Much as she was impressed with their performances, Shongwe indicated that much more needed to be done in ensuring that all local municipalities had people tested in order to reach their target.
“We’ve made great progress, but we still have challenges, which include unemployment and poverty. I know that it’s not any easy battle, but if we unite, one day we shall overcome this. I want to emphasise that we need to go out in numbers to encourage people to be tested so that they know their status, because if you are not tested or you don’t know your status, it means that you are positive,” she said.
It was reported that some of the local municipalities which failed to reach their targets from January to March are Bushbuckridge and Nkomazi.
The testing campaign in the province was officially launched by Mabuza when he tested publicly and called upon leaders to do the same. It has been re-emphasised that municipal leaders, especially those who are in aids councils, should come in numbers to be tested in order to motivate the rest of the community.
Shongwe commended the increase in condom distribution.
“During our outreach, let us not forget to teach young people how to use condoms since these days if you check the statistics of young girls who fall pregnant, it shows that some of them are not using protection,” she concluded.
