Wellness across the board

ILLOVO – South Africa opens the first Queer Wellness Centre in the northern suburbs of Joburg

The consulting rooms are fresh, trendy and clean for anyone who visits the practice. Photo: Aneesa Adams

Inclusivity in South Africa is well on its way.

Mzansi’s first Queer Wellness Centre (QWC) opened its doors in Illovo on 10 March.

ALSO READ: Clinic that caters for the LGBTQI + community officially opens in Illovo #QueerWellnessCentre

What started as just a conversation among friends turned into a reality that was needed for the LGBTQI+ community.

Founded by Dr Claudia Do Vale, Dr Ryan van der Merwe and Scott Hunt, they made a dream into a reality. In attendance was LGBTQI+ activist Thami Kotlolo and the current Miss South Africa Sasha-Lee Olivier.

One of the founders of the Queer Wellness Centre Dr Claudia Do Vale. Photo: Aneesa Adams

A gender symbol is a pictogram or glyph used to represent either biological sex or sociological gender in either biology, medicine, genealogy or selective breeding, or in sociology, gender politics, LGBT subculture and identity politics. Photo: Aneesa Adams

Do Vale shared the story of how the clinic was born.

“I was at a friend’s birthday party and as per usual everyone was picking my brain about medical questions and I suddenly realised that no one was having their kidneys checked when taking Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)- a daily medication that helps prevent the contraction of HIV. It’s such a silly thing but being a nephrologist, I asked the question…’ Who is looking after your kidneys?”

And through this conversation, she realised that the queer community actually had their own health needs. She started looking into issues that affect the queer community as a whole and found that it really is its own sub-space of specialised care.

Londiwe Dlomo and Thabiso Molapisi at the launch of the new wellness centre to serve the LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa. *Photo: Aneesa Adams*

“I jokingly said I should become the nephrologist for all the gay men in Joburg and from that idea, this opened up. It’s having a far greater understanding of some of the underlying issues. It’s a very individualised field,” said Do Vale.

The first phase of the clinic has a team of specialists, sub-specialists and general practitioners who are interested in the care of queer people and knowledgeable in that space. It also has a specific sexual health clinic, anal health clinic and a focus on mental health and self-care.

Activist, Thami Kotlolo was especially excited that QWC had opened its doors and reiterated the need for such a clinic.

LGBTI+ activist and Feathers Founder Thami Kotlolo and the current Miss South Africa Sasha-Lee Olivier at the Queer Wellness Centre launch. *Photo: Aneesa Adams*

“More than anything, it is to appreciate people who are enthusiastic and who are very proactive in taking the initiative to respond to some of the needs of the LGBTQI+ community. I appreciate the fact that someone, somewhere is observing and aware of the challenges that queer people face. We mustn’t be allergic to the fact that we have been ill-treated by the public health system and to some extent the private health system,” said Kotlolo.