The Premier of the Northern Cape, Ms Sylvia Lucas, has taken the political lead to encourage the community in knowing their HIV status. Together with members of the Provincial Legislature, she has taken a public HIV/AIDS test as part of launching the HCT Revitalization Campaign at the Provincial Legislature.

This event has set the tone for HCT activities in the Province and provides the much- needed momentum in scaling up HCT uptake among community members. The event also included screening of chronic diseases such as blood pressure and glucose levels.

In comparison to the rest of the world, South Africa has the highest number of People Living with HIV (nearly 6 million), representing a quarter of the disease burden in sub-Saharan Africa and a sixth of the global disease burden.

In April 2010, the President of South Africa launched the National HIV Counselling and Testing Campaign to mobilize all the people of South Africa to get tested for HIV and know their status. This campaign was also launched provincially in 2012. The Campaign however started to show signs of waning and for this reason a decision was taken that the campaign needs to be revitalised so as to meet the objective of having every South African test for HIV and TB at least once per annum so that people can know their status

With this campaign the Provincial Government has set a target of testing 221 674 people across the province between April 2014 and March 2015. To date the Province has tested only 80 896 which accounts for 36% of the provincial target. Ms Lucas stated that, “Although the Province is doing well in terms of ARV provision the number of people testing remains low. As public representatives we therefore need to set the example and get tested to remove the stigma and treat HIV/ AIDS with the necessary compassion.”

During the launch three candles that were yellow, red and white in colour were lit. The yellow candle symbolizes people that are infected with HIV but do not know their status, the red candle symbolizes those that have succumb to HIV/AIDS and the white candle symbolizes hope in terms of medication such as ARVs and constant research that could lead to a permanent cure.

All districts have a series of events planned until the end of March 2015 for improving HIV testing uptake. Areas targeted include mines, farms, most at risk population (e.g. casual sex workers, inmates, men having sex with men, etc.). The message from the Provincial Government is get tested and know your status.

Released by the Office of the Premier

Spokesperson of the Premier:
Bronwyn Thomas-Abrahams, 083 447 6586, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.