01-12-2013, 07:09 PM
North West Premier Thandi Modise says knowing your HIV status is the key to conquering the virus in the province.
“Knowing your status is key to conquering HIV and Aids and achieving zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero Aids-related deaths,†said Modise on World Aids Day on Sunday.
The North West province provides Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to close to 190 000 HIV positive persons and was this week declared the best performing province in availability of ARV and Tuberculosis drugs by the Stop Stocks Out survey.
The Premier hosted a provincial World Aids Day commemoration in the Moshana village near Zeerust, under the theme: “Get Wise, Get Tested, Get Circumcisedâ€.
World Aids Day is held each year as an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show their support for people living with HIV and to reflect back on the strides taken in the multi-sectoral HIV, Aids and TB response.
Currently, South Africa has one of the largest HIV and Aids treatment programmes with 2.4 million people on treatment. In the North West, 18.9% of the entire population is estimated to be HIV-infected while 30.2% of pregnant women live with the virus.
On Thursday, the province opened its third medical male circumcision clinic at the Bafokeng Community Health Centre in Phokeng near Rustenburg as part of a provincial campaign to reduce the risk of HIV infection amongst men.
The clinic will run in conjunction with the Centre for HIV and Aids Prevention Studies (CHAPS) and it will be able to perform over 200 circumcisions per week. – SAnews.gov.za
“Knowing your status is key to conquering HIV and Aids and achieving zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero Aids-related deaths,†said Modise on World Aids Day on Sunday.
The North West province provides Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to close to 190 000 HIV positive persons and was this week declared the best performing province in availability of ARV and Tuberculosis drugs by the Stop Stocks Out survey.
The Premier hosted a provincial World Aids Day commemoration in the Moshana village near Zeerust, under the theme: “Get Wise, Get Tested, Get Circumcisedâ€.
World Aids Day is held each year as an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show their support for people living with HIV and to reflect back on the strides taken in the multi-sectoral HIV, Aids and TB response.
Currently, South Africa has one of the largest HIV and Aids treatment programmes with 2.4 million people on treatment. In the North West, 18.9% of the entire population is estimated to be HIV-infected while 30.2% of pregnant women live with the virus.
On Thursday, the province opened its third medical male circumcision clinic at the Bafokeng Community Health Centre in Phokeng near Rustenburg as part of a provincial campaign to reduce the risk of HIV infection amongst men.
The clinic will run in conjunction with the Centre for HIV and Aids Prevention Studies (CHAPS) and it will be able to perform over 200 circumcisions per week. – SAnews.gov.za