Marseille 2007
| Abstract #646 - USE OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS (families, education and religion) TO FIGHT HIV/AIDS - A SOCIOECONOMIC AND POLITICAL PROBLEM | ||||
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Session: 26.108: Posters B (Poster) on Tuesday in Chaired by Authors: Presenting Author: Ms Monanana M. Mminele - University of Stellenbosch, South Africa |
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| Aim: Issues: South Africa (SA)s population is 47.4 million and, with a HIV positive population of 5.2 million, is the country hardest hit with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Despite government attempts at fighting the pandemic (including the 2000-2005 and the latest 2007-2011 SA Public Health Policies), it seems as if more, and better, HIV/AIDS Education (which includes the Advocacy, Care, Awareness, Prevention and Treatment) is needed. In discourse with rural areas, it has emerged that the level of education of HIV/AIDS educators themselves, is too low to allow them to effectively combat the pandemic. It has also come to light that stigmatisation is one of the main reasons why the pandemic is covered up. This abstract discusses the Project (as yet unnamed) that I have set up at NEBO in the Limpopo province which is aimed at finding the reasons for and solutions to these problems. | ||||
| Method / Issue: Project: This project of which I am project manager has been running from 2002-Present. Part of the project is speaking to community leaders (Religious Leaders, Education Leaders etc.) and members. We have discovered that many HIV/AIDS educators are under-educated. Many are secondary school dropouts who have been forced into the job of educators because there is no other work. They are then given a crash-course by the government which ill-equips them to understand the problems inherent to this pandemic. All they seem to do is hand out pamphlets and condoms, providing no real education. In African cultures, people are also scared of AIDS and common myths about the transmission of and living with the disease are still prevalent. Hence people still fear even knowing anything about it. The projects final goal is to give more effective education than is currently available and to take away the fear and stigmatization associated with the topic of HIV/AIDS. This can be done by training people whom the community trusts and with whom they are willing to work It is based on training received at Stellenbosch University during an MPhil in HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Even though this is targeted at a working environment, the principles can also be applied to any community. Thailand and Botswanas HIV/AIDS policies have also been used as models for this project. | ||||
| Results / Comments: Lessons learned: SA needs more practical work towards the HIV/AIDS impact. The South African Democratic Teachers Union and workers who belong to the Congress of South African Trade Unions need more AIDS Education of a higher standard. Government needs to stop concentrating on short-term solutions and start enabling people in the community to study HIV/AIDS so that understanding and education is optimum. If possible, educators should undergo a tertiary institutions programme in order to become fully aware of what it is they need to be teaching. Also, if at all possible, a practical method would be to train people from the community which needs to be educated, thereby ensuring comfort in that environment and eventually, a better understanding. | ||||
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