Tshilidzini Hospital’s CEO, Mr Magwedzha Mphaphuli, led by example, when he became the first person to publicly and voluntarily test for HIV at the hospital.

That was during an HIV/Aids Awareness Campaign at the hospital, which took place at the Tshedza Care Center last week.

The community liaison officer at the hospital, Mr David Nemuhuyuni, said the campaign is a continuation of the wellness campaign that the department launched early this year. “Our institution has a mandate to dispense the best service to the community and we will only achieve that through healthy and sound employees,” he said. Nemuhuyuni added that employees need to know their status, and those infected should get the necessary support. He said the campaign was also aimed at popularising Tshedza Care Centre, which is one of the centres that are rolling out ARV’s.

Nemuhuyuni said the campaign was historic, as no other institution has carried out such an exercise and employees turned out in numbers. “We are extremely excited that we are doing what is expected of us in the name of service delivery and this will benefit our community,” he said. Nemuhuyuni said the campaign would not disturb service delivery as skeleton staff was operating in all sections and those in essential services would get their chance after work.

Mr Magwedzha Mphaphuli said it was high time employees took charge of their lives. He said one way of taking control of one’s life was by knowing one’s HIV status and employees had taken the right stand in testing voluntarily for HIV. He said their decision displayed the commitment they had for others and themselves. “It shows that you are concerned about your lives and that of others and you made an example of a hospital caring for the lives of the people. We again urge you to continue doing so,” he said.

Tshedza’s centre head, Dr Maanda Phidane, told all gathered that no one was negative until such time that they had tested. He urged all to take a test as it is the only way one could know what to do. “If you test positive, there is support from this clinic, and if you test negative, continue being negative by leading a clean life.” Phidane encouraged employees to test early to get assistance early. “HIV is like pregnancy: it starts small and it will bulge for all to see, but if you treat it early, people won’t notice the symptoms,” he said.

Ntodeni Nndwamato, specialist family physician at the hospital, said they had many prevention strategies outside the hospital but were not doing enough for their employees. “We have a big community here at the hospital which must be taken care of and we hope the campaign will decrease the spread of the disease at the hospital. Once you know your status, you can change for the better,” added Nndwamato.