St Francis shines a light on HIV/Aids
St Francis Care Centre is a registered NPO which caters to dozens of vulnerable children and adults, most of them suffering from threatening and/or life limiting conditions.
In celebration of World Aids Day, the St Francis Care Centre hosted an informative event on December 1.
This year’s theme was End Inequalities, End Aids.
Representatives from the Boksburg Norths SAPS, Mercy Haven, stakeholders, staff and patients attended the event.
Speakers at the event included Boksburg North SAPS spokesperson Const Justice Ramaube and Zingisa Makheba, a social worker from Mercy Haven.
The St Francis Care Centre children entertained the guests with a singing performance and Fr Aaron Nakufa officiated Mass.
The event was ended with a candle-lighting ceremony, where each of the guests silently held a candle as they remembered those people who died of the disease.
Tilly Brouwer, manager of the St Francis Care Centre, said: “I’m concerned, as statistics show that HIV prevalence among young women is nearly four times greater than that of young men. In 2019, 540 000 young women were living with HIV, compared to 180 000 young men. Intergenerational relationships between older men, a group with high HIV prevalence, and young women are understood to be driving a cycle of infections. This is why inequalities must be stopped.
Furthermore, South Africa has made huge improvements in getting people to test for HIV in recent years. It has now met the first of the 90-90-90 targets, with 90% of people with HIV aware of their status in 2018.”
Guests had the opportunity to test for HIV/Aids, high blood pressure, diabetes and undergo tuberculosis screening.
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