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Ramokgopa call for support of employees with HIV/AIDS
Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
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Gauteng Health MEC Dr Gwen Ramokgopa has embarked on a roadshow to inform health workers about the provincial government's HIV/AIDS workplace programme.
The MEC addressed Health Department employees at head office in Sauer Street, Johannesburg and held another meeting with Johannesburg Hospital regional staff on the programme, which seeks to assist employees affected and infected by the AIDS pandemic. Other visits to Tshwane/Metsweding and the Ekurhuleni/Sedibeng regions are planned.
The meetings follow a convention held last Friday where the Ramokgopa addressed senior managers within the provincial government on Gauteng's HIV/AIDS workplace programme. The programme, which has been endorsed by the Provincial Executive Council and is based on the provincial AIDS strategy, aims to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on employees and to create a supportive working environment for those who are directly affected and infected.
"HIV/AIDS is affecting us in a visible way. We have to be realistic in the way that we tackle the disease," she said. Ramokgopa emphasised the need for all people to know their status. "We are all positive until we test negative," she said.
It is estimated that 10 percent of adults in South Africa are infected with HIV. An impact study in 1997 projected that 3.7 percent of Gauteng provincial government employees will develop AIDS per year by 2008.
Ramokgopa said the government had prioritised the fight against AIDS. Additional resources had been given for voluntary counselling and testing and the budget had been increased to help the Health Department to combat the spread of the disease.
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