Stop being complacent
During the handing over ceremony of anti-retroviral treatment clinics in the Kavango West Region, health minister Bernard Haufiku remarked that HIV is most commonly spread by those who are not aware of the fact that they are positive.
This is certainly true when one considers the facts. It is widely known that HIV positive people who are on medication have a lower viral load and insist on using condoms to protect their sexual partners.
Stats reveal that HIV/Aids remain the number one killer in Namibia, with up to 3 900 deaths annually.
We need to ask ourselves, why we have not beaten the virus when we have every tool possible to fight it.
We have every tool to prevent new infections and equally, we have all the tools to ensure that those already infected can live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.
In 2016 UNAIDS estimated that more than 200 000 Namibians live with HIV. In Namibia, what is more startling is that adolescents and youth represent a growing proportion of HIV positive people in the country.
We need to ask ourselves, why without some kind of biological preference, HIV seems to target young Namibians?
Have we perhaps failed to tailor prevention programmes to the needs of young people? We continue to hear young people refusing to go to public health centres for testing and treatment. So what alternative are we offering these young Namibians without medical aid? Equally, we need clubs and leisure centres to come on board in stocking condoms.
This is no time for complacency; we need to find a unique way to get our young tested.
The perception in the minds of many is still that “if I feel and look healthy” I have nothing to fear. How do we change the narrative, the perception being HIV positive looks sickly, and in the absence of that there is no need to get tested?
The stats are shocking; the stats are a call for action. Parents need to speak to their children about getting tested, friends need to speak to their friends, colleagues need to encourage each other to get tested and pastors need to encourage their congregants to get tested. Love yourself enough to know your status and to protect yourself.
This is certainly true when one considers the facts. It is widely known that HIV positive people who are on medication have a lower viral load and insist on using condoms to protect their sexual partners.
Stats reveal that HIV/Aids remain the number one killer in Namibia, with up to 3 900 deaths annually.
We need to ask ourselves, why we have not beaten the virus when we have every tool possible to fight it.
We have every tool to prevent new infections and equally, we have all the tools to ensure that those already infected can live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.
In 2016 UNAIDS estimated that more than 200 000 Namibians live with HIV. In Namibia, what is more startling is that adolescents and youth represent a growing proportion of HIV positive people in the country.
We need to ask ourselves, why without some kind of biological preference, HIV seems to target young Namibians?
Have we perhaps failed to tailor prevention programmes to the needs of young people? We continue to hear young people refusing to go to public health centres for testing and treatment. So what alternative are we offering these young Namibians without medical aid? Equally, we need clubs and leisure centres to come on board in stocking condoms.
This is no time for complacency; we need to find a unique way to get our young tested.
The perception in the minds of many is still that “if I feel and look healthy” I have nothing to fear. How do we change the narrative, the perception being HIV positive looks sickly, and in the absence of that there is no need to get tested?
The stats are shocking; the stats are a call for action. Parents need to speak to their children about getting tested, friends need to speak to their friends, colleagues need to encourage each other to get tested and pastors need to encourage their congregants to get tested. Love yourself enough to know your status and to protect yourself.
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Namibian Sun
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