The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Executive Mayor Nqaba Bhanga has committed to intensify the fight against HIV/Aids and the stigma associated with it by giving full support to the municipal HIV/Aids office.
Executive Mayor Nqaba Bhanga made this commitment when addressing HIV/Aids Peer Educators who have just finished their training in Zwide today, December 11, 2020. The Municipality held a certification and welcome ceremony at the Zwide under strict COVID-19 regulations.
The peer educators will be working in Ward 26 through the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s HIV/Aids office, placed in the office of the Executive Mayor.
Part of their work will be to run HIV/Aids awareness and anti-stigma programmes and the promotion of healthy life styles. They will also give a special focus on encouraging HIV infected persons to take their medication without fail.
Welcoming the group of 20 trained peer educators, the Executive Mayor thanked the peer educators for taking up ‘such a noble job’.
“I am touched to be welcoming young people who will be doing such an important job. Please take this opportunity to fight against stigma, encourage healthy lifestyles and save lives. As the City we would like to reach a stage when no-one dies because of HIV/Aids. Go out the and tell our people that this is a manageable virus and life does not stop with HIV,” said Executive Mayor Bhanga.
He called on peer educators to humble themselves as they were doing an important job.The Executive Mayor said that more peer educators would be trained in all wards across the City.
“HIV/Aids continues to be associated with stigma that defeats all our efforts we are making to save people’s lives. We want this team to eradicate that. As the Executive Mayor in whose office this is placed, I will commit resources for this office to be a fully fledged office that will make a significant impact across the City,” added Executive Mayor Bhanga.
One of the peer educators, Nomfundo Vika said the training had given them capacity to carry out their job with confidence.
“This training has cleared a lot of doubt and confusion about a number of aspects in relation to HIV/Aids. It has also assisted us to understand the impact of knowledge and empowerment that we give to our people,”
said Vika.
She said: “All we need now, is to hit the ground running and save the lives of the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay. We have the tools and we have the knowledge and skills. Thank you to the municipal HIV/Aids office,” said Vika.
NMB Communications
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