Nurses walk for HIV/Aids awareness
HURST HILL - The staff of Ann Latsky Nursing College embark on a walk to promote HIV/Aids testing and condomising.
Staff of the Ann Latsky Nursing College embarked on a HIV/Aids awareness walk ahead of Worlds Aids Day (1 December) on 29 November.
The group handed out information pamphlets as well as female and male condoms to passers-by as they walked around the block from the campus and back.
“The aim of this walk is to promote testing and encourage people to condomise,” lecturer and HIV/Aids in the Workplace committee coordinator Shibu Mukwevho said.
“We are saying that people should get wise and get tested because once you know your status, you can make wiser decisions,” she added.
Psychiatric Nursing lecturer Mpumi Zwane felt the walk was a good initiative and should be a frequent event.
“It feels good to participate in the walk and I think through this, maybe people will realise that HIV/Aids infection is at a higher stage than it was before,” she explained.
A fellow colleague Felicia van Rooyen touched on the fact that nurses should not only preach to people about precautionary measures, but should heed their own advice and become more involved.
“We need to make time to not only hand out [female] condoms but also demonstrate how they work. The aim is not to save the whole world at once, but to save one person at a time,” van Rooyen explained.
Integrated Wellness and Health coordinator Lindiwe Mahlangu urged people to take care of themselves and others.
“Be protected and stop HIV infection and abuse of woman and children,” she urged.
Mukwevho mentioned that she aims to organise more of campaigns such as this that would encourage people to take on a more responsible stance in life.
