AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Mpumalanga is launching a public syphilis awareness campaign across eMalahleni and beyond to encourage routine sexual health screening and promote early medical treatment.

According to AHF Mpumalanga medical officer Dr Seipati Mohoto, the outreach initiative comes in response to rising infection rates across the province and aims to reduce preventable medical complications through early detection.

As part of the campaign, AHF Mpumalanga will host community screening and education activations at three local venues:

• November 5: Witbank Downtown taxi rank
• November 7: Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) eMalahleni campus
• November 12: Jumbo Mall

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Community screening drive

“Syphilis is a preventable and curable sexually transmitted infection (STI). However, it is often overlooked because some people may have no symptoms, while others may experience symptoms that disappear without the infection being cured,” Mohoto said.

She explained that syphilis can present with a painless sore, rash or other symptoms, but infection may also remain asymptomatic.

Without appropriate treatment, she said, it can progress and cause serious complications affecting multiple organs.

Provincial infection trends

Health data highlights a growing concern within the province. According to South Africa’s National HIV Antenatal Survey, maternal syphilis prevalence in Mpumalanga was 2.2% in 2022.

More recent National Department of Health data for 2024/25 recorded 65 472 first antenatal syphilis tests in the province, of which 1 671 were positive, representing a positivity rate of 2.55%, a clear increase from 2022.

“AHF Mpumalanga is therefore encouraging all sexually active people and their partners to make sexual health screening part of routine healthcare and to seek care promptly if they experience syphilis symptoms,” Mohoto said.

For more information, contact Mohoto on 082 935 5256.

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