The Mpumalanga premier, Mandla Ndlovu, has urged the men in the province to refrain from using their partners’ HIV status to diagnose themselves.
Ndlovu was recently addressing a meeting of the Mpumalanga Provincial Aids Council to assess the progress of the Provincial Implementation Plan for HIV, TB and STIs. He encouraged men to personally test for HIV and know their status. “We need to encourage men to develop a health-seeking lifestyle. We must therefore assure them that our health facilities and programmes are also men-friendly. Every member of the community is a leader in his or her own right. It is against this background that no one must be left out in the fight against HIV, TB and STIs, to eradicate this epidemic,” he said.
Ndlovu expressed the Mpumalanga Government’s commitment to working closely with all stakeholders to wage a war against the spread of HIV/Aids, TB and STIs. This includes support for municipalities to develop multisectoral implementation plans to eradicate these endemics.
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“As a government, it is of great importance that we involve people living with HIV and TB in our quest to mitigate stigma, encourage increased uptake of HIV services and support the reduction of discrimination strategies. These people are our ambassadors and soldiers. They are at the forefront of this war. We dare not leave them behind,” said Ndlovu.
The country’s leading health research institution, the Human Science Research Council, has revealed a high level of new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women aged between 15 and 24. These findings were raised in the meeting as a growing concern that requires urgent attention and action.
According to Ndlovu, this suggests that the youth is not spared of HIV infections; they are more at risk of contracting the endemic because of the social and behavioural factors.
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“South Africa has made significant strides in responding to the epidemics, but we need to accelerate our efforts in order to achieve the global targets set by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids of 95-95-95, to end these health threats by the year 2030. These include viral suppression of communities and ensuring that patients stick to the ARVs and TB treatment programmes. Currently, our three districts in the province are part of the 27 high-burden HIV districts in the country,” he said.
Mpumalanga News
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