Caxton partners with Rotary to fight HIV/Aids
Rotary Family Health Days campaign in South Africa brings together many volunteers and healthcare workers across the private and public sector to combat HIV/AIDS and TB
CAXTON community newspapers around the country (including this newspaper) have teamed up with Rotary and the Department of Health to fight HIV/AIDS and TB through family health days taking place this Wednesday to Friday (7-9 October) at 120 sites in all nine provinces.
This year’s Rotary Family Health Days campaign in South Africa will be big in every sense of the word. It spans three Rotary Districts, 9400, 9370 and 9350. It brings together many volunteers and healthcare workers across the private and public sector. It is also a formal partnership with national government, which is unique in South Africa.
Inspired by U.S. Rotarian Marion Bunch, this will be the third Rotary Family Health Day campaign in South Africa, and the biggest ever. From 7-9 October, the organisers aim to provide free health screenings and immunisations to up to 75,000 community members at 140 sites around the country. (This campaign is also being held in Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana).
This year the official opening will be held on the 7th October 2015 at the Luthuli Museum in Illembe, Kwa-Zulu Natal. Rotary Family Health days 2015 is an example of public-private partnership at its best. The logistics for the sites will be provided by the National Department of Health with support from Rotary volunteers, while sponsorship is provided by the MTN South Africa Foundation.
Media support for awareness of the campaign is vital; this will come from the SABC, the national public broadcaster, along with Caxton, a private sector publisher that owns many local newspapers around the country. Rotarians for Family Health & Aids Prevention (RFHA) is the convener and managing partner of the program. A project on this scale cannot happen without commitment and sacrifice from many individuals.
“It is through the dedication and hard work of all partners but particularly the volunteer aspect of many Rotarians on the ground that has made this campaign such a huge success,” says Sue Paget, Southern Africa Programme Director of Rotary Family Health Days. The effects of the campaign will be felt long after the last volunteers go home.
In bringing together so many South Africans from all walks of life to work as one, Rotary Family Health Days contributes to building a legacy of social cohesion that will ultimately improve the quality of life for everyone. “It’s hard work,” says DG 9400 David Grant. “But it is absolutely worth it.”
For more information see the official website or dial *120#7343# or 0800 012 322 or www.health.gov.za.
