Tshwane's Aids Council aims to educate
The Tshwane Metro's Aids Council (TMAC) recently held its first orientation meeting since its formation in April.
The council is crucial for creating increased awareness about the prevention and treatment of HIV/Aids.
It wants to ensure residents know their status and encourage others on treatment to take their ARVs and have a suppressed viral load.
The first day of orientation allowed members to be educated on the work to be done by the council.
Council chairperson and Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya found it crucial to give words of encouragement to the members about the task that lies ahead.
Moya said many people in the city do not know their status, and there are just as many people who are not on medication.
She added that the council has terms of reference and objectives that must mirror the work done in communities to increase HIV/Aids awareness.
'For me, what is important is that we must never waste opportunity. What saddens me is that when we posted the launch of the Aids council in Tshwane on social media and shared the statistics of people living with Aids in Tshwane, people didn't know, which means we have work to do. If people are still surprised to hear that over 20% of Tshwane residents are infected, it can only tell you that no one is talking about it, not at the platforms that matter, at least. There must never be a hierarchy in this council, because each and every contribution matters,' Moya said.
While the focus of June 24's meeting was orientation of members, various committees were established.
The TMAC has two committees: the Programme Review Committee and the Resource Mobilisation Committee.
Moya said so far, they have populated the committees with members of civil society, and what remains is for the committees to be populated by members from government departments and other sectors.
Gauteng has the second highest number of people living with HIV in the country, of which 11.6% reside in Tshwane.
As Chairperson of the Tshwane Metro AIDS Council, I thought it was crucial that I give words of encouragement to council members about task that lies ahead. There are many people in this city who do not know their status and there are just as many people who are not on… pic.twitter.com/X6pxzbnoog
— Dr Nasiphi Moya (@nasiphim) June 24, 2025
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