Alex men encouraged to always check their HIV status
ALEXANDRA — Men who are HIV positive should not be ashamed of going to their nearest health centre to collect their medications, urges the Mina Men Campaign.
City of Johannesburg Region E coordinator Pleasure Ndlovu who is an active member of the Mina Men Campaign, appeals to the community of Alexandra to encourage men to test for HIV to know their status.
According to Ndlovu, most men who are HIV positive are ashamed of going to their nearest health centres to collect their medications. However, with Mina being localised it will encourage men to go and check their status, and those who know their status to stay on their medications.
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“Mina Men Campaign is a national campaign that focuses on men’s health and their well-being while also engaging them more directly on HIV care and treatment initiation and retention, so we are localising it here in Alex so as to help those who need assistance regarding HIV, “ Ndlovu said.
“In our team, there are people we call ‘Coach Impilo’, and here in Alexandra, we have five of them whose brief is to encourage men to test in order to know their status. They run a door-to-door campaign to test men in their own comfort zone.
“If the result says negative, they encourage you to stay negative by giving you the best advice, and if the result comes out positive, they immediately initiate a treatment process which is called ‘test and treat’.”
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The campaign is currently focusing on HIV only but if Coach Impilos find out that you have other sicknesses such as tuberculosis (TB), prostate cancer, or high blood pressure, they will refer you to other health facilities that deal with that specific type of disease.
Details: Mina Men Campaign 079 413 6184; 060 065 6001; SMS *134*406#.
