Head of the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Dialogue Programme, Dr Mothomang Diaho.
(Image: Nelson Mandela Foundation)Dec 18, 2007 – Companies in the private sector can do more to assist in the management of the AIDS epidemic. This was the message Dr Mothomang Diaho, head of the Dialogue Programme at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, conveyed recently at Personal Finance/Discovery Health Focus seminars.
Dr Diaho was invited to participate in the seminars, held in Johannesburg and Cape Town in November for Discovery medical scheme members and readers of Personal Finance.
Testing for HIV should be “as standard as going for checkups and testing for cholesterol”, said Dr Diaho. “The issue here is to promote wellness, and regular voluntary counselling and testing should be part of the comprehensive management of one’s health.” Being aware of your status is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, she said.
Encouraging employees and employers to take part regularly in voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for the HI-virus is an integral part of the treatment and prevention of the epidemic, said Dr Diaho.
Voluntary counselling and testing is significant as a prevention strategy in reducing the impact of the HIV/AIDS challenge in South Africa. Companies and medical schemes can help reduce stigma by creating an environment that encourages people to test. This will ensure those who are HIV-positive can obtain treatment early on, and are better able to manage their health. An environment that encourages regular testing and offers support to those who test positive helps to promote human rights in the workplace.
However, Dr Diaho said that testing must conform to the three Cs: confidentiality, counselling and informed consent. Dr Diaho discourages implementing forced testing, which is not supported by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS or the World Health Organisation.