12 Dec 2016

 The community has been encouraged to be at the front-line in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

Speaking at the Kweneng West World Aids Day in Mantshwabisi on Friday, Letlhakeng Sub-district matron, Ms Midah Mogonono said while assistance from international sympathisers was vital, it was in the hands of the community to ensure success against the disease.

“International help from institutions such as Harvard AIDS Institute is vital as far as enlightenment and resources are concerned, but the battle still remains ours.

If the community takes a backseat then we will never win this war,” she said.

Ms Mogonono also said the country had made strides ever since the first case of HIV/AIDS was discovered in the 80s, citing programmes such as the Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT), introduction of ARVs, routine testing and the recently introduced treat all initiative where patients are instantly enrolled on ARVs when they tested positive regardless of CD4 count.

The guest speaker and principal programmes coordinator from the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Ms Felicity Nyoni hailed the leadership of the country throughout the years for having laid the foundation in as far as tackling the pandemic was concerned.

Ms Nyoni said the recently adopted Hands-up campaign implored every citizen to take part in the fight against HIV/AIDS and not leave it to government officials or leadership.

She said the war against HIV/AIDS needed to be fought from as low as the family level if it were to succeed, thus urging parents to learn to discuss HIV/AIDS issues with their children so that they became knowledgeable from a young age.

Giving a testimony, Mr Specu Segwagwa who is living with HIV/AIDS said in this era, it should be regrettable if there were still people who were afraid to test for HIV/AIDS and ashamed of their status.

“Accepting ones status is very vital because that person will be free to access assistance such as ARVs, they will be free to visit health facilities and seek knowledge on how to live with their status.

You cannot enjoy all these things if you are ashamed of your status because you cannot come out to seek help,” he said.

Mr Segwagwa, who said had been living with the virus for 16 years, also advised people to adhere to basic preventative measures such as practising protected sex. ENDS