AIDS activists use WC to spread their message
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
JOHANNESBURG, June 8 (AP): For health workers, South Africa's World Cup isn't just about football.
"We know when people are partying, sex happens," said Miriam Mhazo, whose independent Society for Family Health provides AIDS virus testing and counseling across South Africa.
Football-mad South Africans are celebrating the debut of the world's most popular sports event on their continent. AIDS experts like Mhazo say it's also a time for serious action and discussion.
South Africa, a nation of about 50 million, has an estimated 5.7 million people infected with HIV, more than any other country. After years of official denial and delay, the government last year embarked on an anti-AIDS drive, vowing to halve new infections and ensure that 80 percent of those who need them have access to AIDS drugs by 2011.
By the time the monthlong World Cup ends on July 11, fans will have had scores of chances to be tested at mobile units parked in stadium car parks, help themselves from baskets of free condoms, and hear their football heroes talk about safe sex.
Right to Care, one of the largest private providers of AIDS treatment, counseling and testing in South Africa, seized on an item that no South African football fan would be without: the plastic horns known as vuvuzelas.
The group's vuvuzelas are bright red with a message in white to "make noise for HIV!" - a plea to break the silence and stigma surrounding AIDS.
"We know when people are partying, sex happens," said Miriam Mhazo, whose independent Society for Family Health provides AIDS virus testing and counseling across South Africa.
Football-mad South Africans are celebrating the debut of the world's most popular sports event on their continent. AIDS experts like Mhazo say it's also a time for serious action and discussion.
South Africa, a nation of about 50 million, has an estimated 5.7 million people infected with HIV, more than any other country. After years of official denial and delay, the government last year embarked on an anti-AIDS drive, vowing to halve new infections and ensure that 80 percent of those who need them have access to AIDS drugs by 2011.
By the time the monthlong World Cup ends on July 11, fans will have had scores of chances to be tested at mobile units parked in stadium car parks, help themselves from baskets of free condoms, and hear their football heroes talk about safe sex.
Right to Care, one of the largest private providers of AIDS treatment, counseling and testing in South Africa, seized on an item that no South African football fan would be without: the plastic horns known as vuvuzelas.
The group's vuvuzelas are bright red with a message in white to "make noise for HIV!" - a plea to break the silence and stigma surrounding AIDS.