Soweto facility gives hope to people living with HIV

Mo-Afrika Ithlokokomele, in partnership with the department of health, operates the linkage system that initiates lifesaving antiretroviral therapy, facilitates the delivery of important prevention message for the reduction of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) transmission by assisting people living with HIV to engage in medical care.

It is important for people diagnosed with HIV to live a long and healthy lifestyle and linkage officers refer HIV positive patients to the nearest local clinics for treatment.

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“It is a very convenient way for people diagnosed with HIV to get immediate help and treatment in clinics through referring them, we link people to care, we also do home visits and offer counselling sessions,” Thato Malapane, the linkage officer, told Soweto Urban.

People living with HIV are given advice on living a healthy lifestyle by doing the following:

• Eating well: HIV positive people need a balanced diet when taking treatment, and they are advised to replace junk with food that contains protein, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. It also includes them being alerted about the dangers of skipping the ARV treatment.
• Exercising: it improves blood circulation, increases energy levels, helps maintain a healthy body weight.
• Sleeping: people living with the virus may have trouble sleeping and get depressed, thus it affects the body’s ability to fight infection.
• Practice safe sex: informing their new partners about their status before engaging in sexual intercourse, because if they do not inform them, they might expose them to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

“My main objectives or day-to-day tasks are ensuring that clients are linked into care effectively, follow up on HIV positive clients as to strategies a convenient way to link them, do HIV test at the site, and capture everyone tested positive into the system so that the department can provide enough treatment for everyone who needs it, offer counselling and also educate people more about the HIV,” Malapane said.

The Mo-Afrika organisation is geared at reducing the spread of HIV/Aids in our communities. The benefits of the linkage system include immediate linkage to care, making sure that people living with HIV adhere to medication, to reduce the HIV/Aids stigma.

Linking people to relevant professionals such as social workers, providing underage patients with medication during home visits and free sexual transmitted infections (STI) and tuberculosis (TB) screening is provided.

Malapane further stated that not only did they focus on referring clients to clinics, but they also gave primary health, psychological and social help.

He also stated that linkage officers made sure clients were initiated and that they also adhered to treatment while providing other relevant psychosocial help.

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