Mbombela – The Mpumalanga provincial government has only one week left to test 145 000 of the local population for HIV in order to meet its target of more than one million.
Provincial health and development spokesman Mpho Gabashane said the HIV Voluntary Counselling and Testing campaign was launched in line with President Jacob Zuma’s target of testing 15 million people nationwide by the end of June 2011.
“To date, 950 806 people tested and this represents 87 percent of our 1 095 000 target. Of those people who tested, 201 541 tested HIV positive. This represents a positivity rate of 21.2 percent. We have a shortfall of just over 145 000 people to reach our target by end of June,” said Gabashane.
He said by knowing their status, people can take informed decisions about their lives.
Gabashane said the department was grateful to all partners who continued to assist in the campaign.
He said the other prevention target was to encourage medical circumcision and increase the number of men between the ages of 15 to 49 years who are circumcised.
“The department launched this important campaign in November 2010 and set an annual target of 10 000 males to be circumcised. To date, 6 455 men have circumcised in various hospitals,” Gabashane said.
Only four state hospitals in the province – Piet Retief, Tonga, Themba and Mapulaneng – were able to perform between 20 and 30 operations a day. Other hospitals performed fewer procedures.
“We will increase these hospitals to 12 this financial year and our plan is to get more than 38 000 men circumcised by end of March 2012,” said Gabashane.
He said schoolboys are being encouraged to get circumcised at hospitals during the winter holidays. He said admission at state hospitals is free.
“It is important to always note that circumcision does not replace condom use. People are always encouraged to practice safe sex at all times,” Gabashane added.
Mpumalanga’s HIV prevalence rate is currently 35.5 percent, second only to KwaZulu-Natal, which stands at 39.5 percent.
Mpumalanga has a population of just over 3.5 million, 600 000 of whom are reported to be living with HIV. Of these, 102 855 are on antiretroviral treatment. – Sydney Masinga, BuaNews
