Tag Archives: hiv/aids

HEAIDS is upbeat about CPUT

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The Higher Education Aids Project (HEAIDS) complemented CPUT for recovering in a relatively short space of time from a university which was riddled by students’ unrests to the peaceful environment conducive for teaching, learning and innovation that now prevails on the university’s campuses.

This view was expressed by HEAIDS Director, Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia, during a HEAIDS visit to CPUT recently. Accompanied by HEAIDS Project Manager, Alex Semba, Ahluwalia met with Acting Vice-chancellor, Dr Chris Nhlapo, before addressing the HIV Institutional Co-ordinating Committee.

Ahluwalia commended Nhlapo for how he has turned the university around in the last five months. “I met the Vice-chancellor to acknowledge him as well as telling him about our programme and vision,” he told CPUT staffers.

He added that a university’s legacy is that its alumni should live longer and that Dr Nhlapo agreed about the importance of leaving this legacy to the benefit of alumni and society.

“Academia has for a long while ignored issues of gender-based violence, employee wellness and HIV/Aids,” Dr Ahluwalia said.

He added that few universities in the country, including CPUT, have a Gender-Based Violence policy or processes in place to develop a policy. He congratulated CPUT for being one of the institutions in higher education to integrate HIV into its curriculum.

Sanitary towel drive in full swing

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CPUT staff members are being encouraged to make a difference by donating to the Sanitary Towel Drive.

The campaign, which was initiated by the HIV/Aids Unit in conjunction with the Donate a Pad Project, has already managed to donate 10 to 12 packs of towels to each of CPUT’s campus clinics and Student Counselling centres.

“The aim of the drive is to provide some form of assistance for students who might need some sanitary towels,” says Melanie Marais, Head of the HIV/Aids Unit.

“Thanks to our colleagues from the Departments of Nursing, Radiology, Procurement, Transport, the HIV/Aids Unit with support from the Marketing and Communication Department and the whole of the Business and Management Faculty, we were able to collect close to 170 packs of sanitary towels, donated by their staff since December 2017.”

This is an ongoing project and staff members are encouraged to continue donating the towels at the HIV Unit, MCD, Student Counselling, Department of Student Affairs, Disability Unit and Campus Clinics.

The department with the most donations stands to win a prize.

Staff members can be the drive’s champion by doing the following:

  • Collect towels from everyone in your department;
  • Challenge a CPUT department to better your donation numbers and;
  • Arrange for collection by emailing Marais

“Hopefully, once we source large amounts in donations we’ll be able to hand out a full pack per student requesting some,” she says.

“We will soon have some branded sanitary towel plastic containers that will be placed in strategic areas on campus,” she says.

The success of the drive will ensure that for the upcoming 2018 Young Women Leadership Conference, which will be hosted by the HIV/Aids Unit in August, each delegate will receive one pack of sanitary towels in her goody bag.

Marais thanks all the sponsors for supporting the unit during this drive.

HIV/Aids Unit exhibits at first HEAIDS conference

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The HIV/Aids Unit presented an abstract and a poster during the recent inaugural Higher Education and Training HIV/Aids Project (HEAIDS) Conference, which was held in Durban.

The three-day conference saw a delegation of 4 600 students from around the country, mainly SRC members and Peer Educators, converging at the Durban International Conference Centre.

CPUT’s HIV Peer Educators and SRC representatives also attended the conference and manned the

Unit’s exhibition stall there.

HIV/AIDS Unit staff members, Melanie Marais and Naythan Kayser, presented an abstract titled “Make your mark by leading the change: Innovative methods of addressing information overload at Higher Education Institutions”, where they shared best practices of the HIV Peer Education Programme.

The HIV-curriculum integration poster designed by the unit displayed an easy explanation of how HIV was integrated into the curriculum of two courses as well as how three books were developed at CPUT.

The books, Student Guide: Roadmap to your social, mental and physical wellbeing; Guide 4 Life: Wellness Guide and How2BAidsAware, were launched by CPUT last month in favour of integrating HIV into the curriculum.

Marais added that there are plans to distribute the study material developed by CPUT at other institutions.

She says that participating in the conference afforded them an opportunity to network and collaborate with other institutions of higher education.

“It also made us look at our own prevention strategies around the ‘Blesser’ phenomenon that is a common problem and huge contributor to HIV infection amongst young women,” says Marais.

“Students also raised their concerns about sexual and gender-based violence that is plaguing our country.”

 

HIV/Aids quilt tells stories of hope

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The programmes of the HIV/Aids Unit received unparalleled publicity on various platforms during the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban.

A quilt, called Choices, which was designed by its staffers and peer educators to showcase their work was not only displayed at the conference, but was also published in the South African National AIDS Council’s publication, ‘In our Hands. South Africans tell their story of hope’.

The quilt was also on display at the conference where national ministers and VIP delegates did a walkabout.

The CPUT delegation was composed of the unit’s team, three peer educators as well as two students from CPUT and False Bay College who won an all-expenses trip to the Durban Conference’s Global Village during the 2016 CPUT Youth Leadership HIV/AIDS Conference.

The two students’ trip was paid for by the International AIDS Society.

Higher Education AIDS’ poster presentation included CPUT’s best practices with respect to HIV Programs, including the annual Youth Leadership HIV/AIDS Conference organised by CPUT in collaboration with universities and TVET Colleges in the region.

Peer Educators also presented the Youtube video clip that was prepared for the First Year Experience 2017, reflecting on services rendered and high risk behaviour of students.

“We were one of two institutions (CPUT and Wits) that presented best practices at the Global Village,” says the unit’s Coordinator, Melanie Marais.

Marais adds that HIV treatment guidelines were revised at the conference.

“As from 1 September 2016 ARVs will be provided to all patients who test HIV positive and Pre-exposure prophylaxis (ARVs used to prevent HIV infection) will be made available to sex workers.”

 

 

 

 

 

Shocking facts revealed at HIV/ Aids Conference

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Multiple sexual partners and the abuse of alcohol amongst university students were just some of the shocking facts revealed at the recent Youth Leadership HIV and Aids Conference.

The challenges presented by HIV and possible solutions to curb infections were examined at the conference which was held at CPUT’s Bellville Campus.

The focus of the conference was to showcase student leadership’s response to HIV, alcohol and substance abuse, health issues as well as to share best practices among student leaders from different universities.

Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia, Director of Higher Education AIDS, told delegates that studies have revealed a large number of youth had multiple sexual partners.

Ahluwalia says transactional as well as generational sex happens more often in TVET Colleges than at universities, while 35% of young educated South Africans abuse alcohol to the extent that they won’t know who they slept with.

To curb the infection rate, he called for the recruitment of 50 peer educators per campus to promote HIV awareness, medical male circumcision and condom usage.

HIV/Aids Unit’s Head, Melanie Marais says each of the four universities has adopted a TVET College which will see the former mentoring the latter in HIV/Aids programmes.

Other activities during the conference included family planning and general women’s health awareness by the Marie Stopes Clinic, voluntary HIV counseling and testing by TB/HIV Care Association and an exhibition of the Uyindoda Male Medical Circumcision Underwear, which speeds up recovery time after circumcisions, by Musa Morgan, a CPUT Mechanical Engineering graduate.

The conference attracted delegates from Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town, University of the Western Cape and TVET colleges in the Western Cape Province.