The Aids initiative continues to make a difference for all
FIFTEEN years after the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) started operating in South Africa, it continues to make a difference in the fight against the disease.
The AHF, a global organisation operating in 38 countries around the world, opened its first treatment centre outside the US when Ithembalabantu Clinic was established in Umlazi township in Durban in 2002.
Since then the organisation has extended its operations to the Amathole region in the Eastern Cape.
The AHF programme has grown as it now supports 53 Department of Health sites, with 2227 adults and 1111 paediatric active enhanced disease surveillance (paeds) in Mnquma, Mbhashe and Nkonkobe.
Since AHF partnered with the Department of Health, there has been a welcome increase in the number of people who have been tested for the virus and those who are on anti-retrovirals (ARVs).
The people in rural Amathole have been tested at clinics through the rapid test programme, the AHF’s global initiative to promote mass HIV prevention and condom promotion.
The number of people who have been tested for the virus in the Nkonkobe, Mnquma and Mbhashe sub-regions has increased by 123835 from 2010 to last year. Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo applauded the AHF for what it does to fight the epidemic.
“HIV/Aids is not a health issue – it is a societal issue, so we need everyone to partake and be actively involved because we are all affected by it.
“If you are not infected you are affected by it. We are working with them and all sectors,” he said. Kupelo said Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the World Aids Day government message from Mthatha. Before that, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi will deliver a National Health Insurance lecture in Mthatha as well.
Today, Kupelo said premier Phumulo Masualle will launch the Red Ribbon Friday in Port Alfred.
In 2010, 15271 people were tested and in 2011 the number dropped to 14628. In 2012 and 2013, 24025 and 37323 people were tested, while the number drastically increased from 66329 and 114916 in 2014 and 2015 to 139106 last year.
The AHF programme, which is 60% home testing in communities that surround the organisation’s supported facilities, has also helped in ending the stigma associated with HIV/Aids.
And with primary healthcare in the Eastern Cape always coming under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, AHF has also donated a building to the health department and has a doctor servicing scores of patients in Mnquma, Nkonkobe and Mbhashe.
“The doctor is used as a reference and guidance for the mentors, he reviews prescriptions, consults with difficult patients and participates in quality improvement programmes, thus decreasing the mortality rate,” an AHF spokesman said.
“The doctor conducts an analysis of all reported deaths and develops improvement plans to close identified gaps in patient management.
“The doctor then compiles cases and presents them to the core teams. These discussions help to improve patient management.”
AHF South Africa country programme director Hilary Thulare said the Middledrift Clinic – the organisation’s first in the province when it opened in 2007 – had brought about much-needed change in the Alice area.
She said the facility provides services to more than 2000 patients.
Because of the number of people who depend on the facility, it was expanded last year, with the state-of-the-art clinic opening last April.
“The new health centre has made a tremendous difference to the lives of local residents in the community and their access to healthcare,” she said.
The organisation said data management was a core part of its functions, with mentors imparting their knowledge to nursing staff, capturing information and verifying it before submitting it to managers as a way of ensuring better service delivery. Over and above expanding the Middledift Clinic last year, AHF also donated furniture worth R110000, medical equipment worth R208000 and a R103000 playground.
Foundation in top health
FIFTEEN years after the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) started operating in South Africa, it continues to make a difference in the fight against the disease.
The AHF, a global organisation operating in 38 countries around the world, opened its first treatment centre outside the US when Ithembalabantu Clinic was established in Umlazi township in Durban in 2002.
Since then the organisation has extended its operations to the Amathole region in the Eastern Cape.
The AHF programme has grown as it now supports 53 Department of Health sites, with 2227 adults and 1111 paediatric active enhanced disease surveillance (paeds) in Mnquma, Mbhashe and Nkonkobe.
Since AHF partnered with the Department of Health, there has been a welcome increase in the number of people who have been tested for the virus and those who are on anti-retrovirals (ARVs).
The people in rural Amathole have been tested at clinics through the rapid test programme, the AHF’s global initiative to promote mass HIV prevention and condom promotion.
The number of people who have been tested for the virus in the Nkonkobe, Mnquma and Mbhashe sub-regions has increased by 123835 from 2010 to last year. Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo applauded the AHF for what it does to fight the epidemic.
“HIV/Aids is not a health issue – it is a societal issue, so we need everyone to partake and be actively involved because we are all affected by it.
“If you are not infected you are affected by it. We are working with them and all sectors,” he said. Kupelo said Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the World Aids Day government message from Mthatha. Before that, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi will deliver a National Health Insurance lecture in Mthatha as well.
Today, Kupelo said premier Phumulo Masualle will launch the Red Ribbon Friday in Port Alfred.
In 2010, 15271 people were tested and in 2011 the number dropped to 14628. In 2012 and 2013, 24025 and 37323 people were tested, while the number drastically increased from 66329 and 114916 in 2014 and 2015 to 139106 last year.
The AHF programme, which is 60% home testing in communities that surround the organisation’s supported facilities, has also helped in ending the stigma associated with HIV/Aids.
And with primary healthcare in the Eastern Cape always coming under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, AHF has also donated a building to the health department and has a doctor servicing scores of patients in Mnquma, Nkonkobe and Mbhashe.
“The doctor is used as a reference and guidance for the mentors, he reviews prescriptions, consults with difficult patients and participates in quality improvement programmes, thus decreasing the mortality rate,” an AHF spokesman said.
“The doctor conducts an analysis of all reported deaths and develops improvement plans to close identified gaps in patient management.
“The doctor then compiles cases and presents them to the core teams. These discussions help to improve patient management.”
AHF South Africa country programme director Hilary Thulare said the Middledrift Clinic – the organisation’s first in the province when it opened in 2007 – had brought about much-needed change in the Alice area.
She said the facility provides services to more than 2000 patients.
Because of the number of people who depend on the facility, it was expanded last year, with the state-of-the-art clinic opening last April.
“The new health centre has made a tremendous difference to the lives of local residents in the community and their access to healthcare,” she said.
The organisation said data management was a core part of its functions, with mentors imparting their knowledge to nursing staff, capturing information and verifying it before submitting it to managers as a way of ensuring better service delivery. Over and above expanding the Middledift Clinic last year, AHF also donated furniture worth R110000, medical equipment worth R208000 and a R103000 playground.
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