The MEC for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, told students of the Vhembe TVET College in Makwarela "to play it safely to win the battle against HIV/Aids".
MEC Ramathuba addressed hundreds of students in the college hall on Friday during an HIV/Aids counselling and testing campaign. "The starting point should be to know your health status and abstain from sex. Those who are sexually active should have one partner, be faithful and condomise," she added. She told the students that by using condoms they would prevent sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies.
According to Ramathuba, her department has introduced a slogan It is not Ayoba to have sex without a condom.
She mentioned that the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, had introduced a campaign named First things first in 2012 at Wits University. The campaign was aimed at offering a comprehensive health screening to first-year students and was open to all members of the university community, which included other students and the staff. In Limpopo, the campaign was also launched at Univen in 2012.
"In intensifying the campaigns, the department realized that there was a need to partner with TVET colleges, starting with main campuses, then moving to the satellite campuses. Comprehensive HIV non-medical sites in the form of walk-in services on campuses were established," she added.
It is through these campaigns that students are encouraged to test in order to know their health status. The best issue is that students are no longer expected to queue at the public health-care services; instead, the services are accessible on campus.
She also added that, as from this month, the department would start with universal tests and treatments, which means that all HIV positive clients would be initiated on antiretroviral treatment, irrespective of their CD4 cell count.