Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
6 July 1997
The Gauteng leg of the national STD/AIDS Review gets under way in Johannesburg tomorrow. The review team, comprising participants from all levels of government, from various social service sectors and from non-government organisations, will gather for a day of briefings before setting out on three days of field visits to all regions of Gauteng.
The STD/AIDS Review is a thorough stock-taking of services and resources related to the prevention, control and treatment of sexually transmitted disease, and HIV in particular. Its significance is highlighted by the fact that the rate of HIV infection in South Africa as a whole is still climbing. In Gauteng, the incidence among women of child-bearing age is disturbingly close to one in five.
The Review process aims to:
In Gauteng, the Review Team will visit a wide range of institutions, organisations and service-sites. Apart from clinics and other treatment centres, the review in this province will encompass visits to gold mines, large manufacturing plants, prisons, schools, youth groups, children's homes and informal settlements with viable community initiatives to counter AIDS and to care for those who are HIV-positive.
Friday will feature a series of report backs by the team - to senior management of the Gauteng Departments of Health, Education and Welfare; to managers directly involved in implementing AIDS and STD-related programmes at community, local authority and provincial level; and to a broad range of role-players.
A summary of the Team's main findings will be released to the media soon after the completion of their brief.
Released by: Directorate for Health Promotion & Communications Gauteng Health Department
Queries to: Jo-Anne Collinge (011) 355 3876 or 355 3234(O) (011) 622 6027(h)