Pretoria - The City of Johannesburg will commemorate World Aids - a day on which everyone is asked to remember those affected by and infected with HIV and Aids - by opening six new ART sites.
Executive Mayor Amos Masondo will launch the HIV and Aids Comprehensive, Care, Management and Antiretroviral Treatment (CCMT) centre at the Sinqobile Clinic in Meadowlands, Soweto today, reports Joburg.org.
After the launch, there will be a door-to-door campaign around the Sinqobile Clinic where people will be told about antiretrovirals and their benefits for people infected with HIV.
The six other sites, which will provide ARV treatment and follow-up care for people infected by HIV and Aids are at the Zondi Clinic, Klipspruit West Clinic and Green Village Clinic in Soweto; Ebony Park Clinic in Midrand and Eastbank Clinic in Alexandra.
This will increase the number of ART clinics in Johannesburg to 25.
In addition, the city will also have clinicians and testing equipment at the e.tv offices in Hyde Park for the whole day for people who want to be tested.
In the evening, the Switch On the Light for Rights event will take place at the Metro Centre in Braamfontien.
"The city will be joining over 100 countries globally in the Light for Rights campaign where the Executive Mayor, Amos Masondo, will be switching on the lights depicting the massive HIV ribbon on the southern side of the Johannesburg Metro Centre building," the provincial Health Department's Nkosinathi Nkabinde explained.
The red HIV ribbon light is expected to remain lit for two months in recognition of the human right to healthy living, especially for those people living with HIV and Aids and their families.
World Aids Day, observed on 1 December each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the Aids pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. It is common to hold memorials on the day to honour people who have died from the disease.
