Youth urged to abstain from sex amid spike in HIV infections

KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-ncube has encouraged young boys and girls to delay their sexual debut and instead focus on their studies so that they can determine their future.

Dube-ncube was speaking during the commemoration of World Aids Day at Vanjazi Sports Ground today in Dannhauser under the Amajuba District Municipality, yesterday. She said the youth were the future leaders of the country and therefore, a healthy generation of young people who would take it forward was needed.

Dube-ncube also rebuked men who inflict violence on women and children and also spoke out against “blessers” and “sugar daddies” who preyed on vulnerable young girls, exploited them sexually and ended up infecting them with HIV.

World Aids Day has been observed across the world since December 1, 1988 to pay attention to the fight against the pandemic and to demonstrate solidarity in the fight against HIV and Aids. This marked 41 years since the world came to know about the first reported case of Aids on June 5, 1981 in the US.

Premier Dube-ncube commended the government for working hard to improve access to life-saving anti-retroviral therapy, which had increased people’s life expectancy and averted the Aids-related mass burials that once characterised life in South Africa.

She urged young people to abstain from sex, while imploring those who had begun sexual relations to male and female condoms, as well as the various family planning methods provided by government that are available to them free of charge.

“Reducing Hiv-related stigma is a top priority for the provincial government in order to improve the quality of life for all persons with HIV. We urge the people of Kwazulu-natal to get tested and know their status, so that if they are living with HIV they can be initiated on treatment immediately, and also avoid spreading the virus,” said Dube-ncube.

The 2022 World Health Organisation and Unaids theme for World Aids Day is: “Equalise and integrate to end Aids. .

This theme is a call to the global community to act fast in order to address the inequalities, which drive the Aids pandemic, using practical proven effective measures including the following:

s "Y UPLIFTING THE AVAILABILITY QUALITY and suitability of services for HIV treatment, testing and prevention so that everyone is well-served.

s 2EFORMING LAWS POLICIES AND Practices to tackle the stigma and exclusion faced by people living with HIV and by key and marginalised populations.

s %NSURING THE SHARING OF TECHNOLOGY to enable equal access to the best HIV science, between communities and between the global south and north.