City of Mbombela remembers those lost to Aids
The community of Barberton gathered with the executive mayor of the City of Mbombela to pay homage to people who died from and those living with HIV/Aids.
“We are marking equal rights and taking equal care to eliminate discrimination against people living with HIV/Aids. We stand here to fight the scourge of this virus in our communities to ensure no one loses their life due to it.”
Thus pledged the City of Mbombela’s executive mayor, Cllr Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, at the municipal World Aids Day commemoration at the Barberton Phase 2 sportsground on Friday, December 6.
In her address, Makushe-Mazibuko said the aim of the commemoration was to bring the health services and organisations the municipality has in place to bear in the fight against the virus. She also conducted a candle-lighting ceremony to remember and honour those who lost their lives as a result of this virus.
“We want to end the stigma that living with HIV/Aids makes one less of a human being, or that one does not belong in the community. We do not want people to die from this virus. It is not the end of the world. I encourage communities to make use of these free services for anything such as testing and treatment of HIV/Aids, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis and more. This is our fight to have a zero rise in HIV infections. Get tested and learn your health status, because early detection is better than never,” she said.
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She also gave some tips for the locals to take better care of themselves and to create dialogues within their communities to educate themselves more about the virus and its antiretroviral drug treatment.
The organisations that provided services at the event include the Laapeng Foundation, the Mpumalanga Department of Health and Right to Care.
