19 May 2013

Tonota residents have been cautioned against stigmatising and discriminating people living with HIV/AIDS.

Guest speaker at the International Candle light memorial in Tonota, Prophet Joseph Motswasele of Spiritual Healing Church underscored the need for individuals to know their HIV status.

He stated that despite different government initiatives, statistics showed an increase in the number of people contracting HIV and advised them to submit their lives to God. In her remarks, the district AIDS coordinator (DAC), Ms Chipo Rutherford stated that people in Tonota Sub-district did not go for HIV testing in large numbers, and as such, many people did not know their status.

Only 11.8 pe rcent of the 49 000 residents had tested, she said. She also said there was a worrying trend of teenage pregnancy, which stood at 14.2 per cent in the village. Ms Rutherford advised the villagers to lend a hand in the fight against HIV/AIDS as government could not fight the virus alone.

She gave examples of people who were in the HIV treatment programme, who chose to abandon medication or consume alcohol while on medication. Ms Rutherford said such habits were not good for their health. An HIV activist, Ms Barulaganye Kepaletswe, who tested HIV positive in 2007, said lack of knowledge about the disease and lifestyle contributed to her contracting the disease.

She advised people living with the virus to accept themselves, adding that some people shied away from visiting health facilities to collect medication, while in social events such as weddings and funerals, they were afraid of taking medication for fear of being stigmatised.

Ms Kepaletswe gave an example that in 2008, when she enrolled for the ARV programme, her CD4 count was at 226, but she was at 1 026. She attributed her improving health to a healthy lifestyle. The activist cautioned people on ARVs to quit alcohol and those who were negative to maintain their status. ENDS