Witbank Provincial Hospital commemorates World Aids Day
Relatives of individuals who are living with chronic illnesses are also remembered on this day.
World Aids Day is about celebrating those who have passed on from Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/Aids) alongside those living with the disease to date.
Relatives of individuals who are living with chronic illnesses are also remembered on this day.
After the nationwide celebration, local clinics and hospitals commemorate to give hope and raise awareness, more especially as there is still a new diagnosis that is recorded.
Witbank Provincial Hospital hosted the event to inform and educate the public about chronic illnesses.
Testing and counselling stations were available along with prevention methods as well as other programmes ran at the hospital to assist those living with HIV/Aids.
Doctor Snenhlanhla Xulu emphasised that health workers must work together with community members to support those currently living with HIV/Aids, and their loved ones to alleviate existing burdens either in the healthcare system or in societies.
“This initiative mustn’t end with us healthcare workers, we should also empathise, love, encourage and not discriminate against our neighbours and friends. People with HIV are often discriminated against. As a community, we have a role to play that includes accepting those who have tested positive for the disease and showing them that living with the disease is not a death sentence,” Dr Xulu educated.
She also outlined that members of the community need to test and know their HIV status.
HIV/Aids ambassador Grace Seopela courageously attested to having been living with the disease for 25 years. Ms Seopela said she vividly remembers what it was like living with HIV when there was no treatment available, “During that time we were only given immune boosters at the clinics. Because I was in denial at the time, I hopped from one clinic to another in search of a different outcome. In 2005 I heard Anti-Retrovirals (ARVs) had been made available at Witbank Provincial Hospital; my CD4 count was 94 at the time. If I remember correctly, a wellness clinic with no treatment had just opened at the hospital. June 1, 2001, ARVs were available in this hospital. Although we were counselled the stigma was more devastating than living with the disease. I publicly disclosed my status by being the first person to accept the treatment,” Grace admitted.
Grace went on to say that living with HIV at the time, one had to take three pills twice a day at a chosen time.
As she was tested regularly to check how the treatment was adjusting, she said her CD4 count began improving and climbing, although she had opportunistic diseases like Tuberculosis (TB) which she managed to overcome.
Grace educated that stigma begins at home.
She was later trained and employed to counsel and conduct HIV tests at the hospital.
Grace currently has a viral load that is lower than detectable. “I would like to thank Witbank Hospital for encouraging me to take treatment. Living with the disease is no longer a shame. In the year 2015, I gave birth to a healthy HIV-negative baby who is now seven years old,” she expressed.
Sister Nelly Ngwenya is the coordinator of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme as well as the organiser of the World Aids Day commemoration event that took place at Witbank Provincial Hospital on Wednesday, December 7.
“Transmission can be passed down from an HIV+ mother to her newborn baby if the mother is not taking her treatment currently. Some underlying causes like an unfaithful HIV+ spouse who is not on treatment, increase the chances of daily re-infection to the mother and child. PMTCT is a programme which also caters for women who wish to conceive, as they too should know their HIV status if you are pregnant and HIV positive, it is important to be informed about your viral load and if it is suppressed or not,” she informed.
World Aids Day celebration at Witbank Provincial Hospital was a successful event filled with knowledge and thought-provoking topics about the role society had and still needs to play in terms of accepting and encouraging those living with HIV/Aids.
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