Traditional healers join Mpumalanga’s HIV battle
The Department of Health's Close the Gap campaign gets a boost from traditional healers.
The Mpumalanga Department of Health (DoH) met with traditional health practitioners in Chochocho on May 22 to find ways to meaningfully collaborate in the fight against HIV/Aids. The gathering was held as part of the DoH’s executive council outreach stakeholder engagement programme.
The meeting was led by the health MMC, Phindile Mbowane, and attended by local councillors, the deputy director general of health services, Dudu Mdluli, and the provincial chairperson, Gogo Sarah Pula. Pula discouraged the members from enrolling young children in initiation schools.
Mbowane, who was representing the MEC for health, Sasekani Manzini, emphasised the importance of working together to fight HIV.
“I urge [traditional health practitioners] to encourage HIV patients to take their ARVs, as per the Close the Gap campaign launched by MEC Sasekani Manzini.”
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The meeting demonstrated the province’s commitment to addressing HIV challenges through partnership and informed strategies.
The Close the Gap campaign was launched at Rob Ferreira Hospital on May 16 by the DoH, in collaboration with the Mpumalanga Aids Council and other stakeholders in the health sector, as a way of tracing more than 134 000 people in the province – and 1.1 million nationwide – who have tested positive for HIV but are not receiving treatment.
