The prevention of sexual diseases and the abolition of illegal abortions were high on the agenda during the Sexual Reproductive Health Campaign hosted at Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley.
THE PREVENTION of sexual diseases and the abolition of illegal abortions were high on the agenda during the Sexual Reproductive Health Campaign hosted at Sol Plaatje University (SPU) in Kimberley.
The campaign was hosted by the Department of Health in partnership with the Department of Higher Education, the World Health Organization and other stakeholders in the health fraternity such as the South African National Aids Council (Sanac).
The vice-chancellor and principal of SPU, Professor Andrew Crouch, urged the students who were in attendance at the event on Friday to take good care of their health from an early age.
“We have taken a holistic approach as an institution when it comes to student wellness where we ensure that students have a healthy mind, body and spirit. We have a number of programmes available to assist our students with matters of physical or mental health. The mental health of our students is just as pivotal as their physical health including their academic performance. Healthy students will ensure we have a healthy country. It is vital that the youth look after their health from an early stage,” said Crouch.
The Northern Cape MEC for Health, Maruping Lekwene, said the aim of the campaign is not only to highlight the importance of practising a healthy sexual lifestyle among the youth, but also to show how the results of such actions can impact their lives from a young age.
“Sexual reproductive health is one of the cornerstones of our public health campaign to educate and empower our people from all walks of life about sexual transmitted infections (STIs) , their prevention, treatment and the link between STIs and various other health challenges including HIV and Aids,” said Lekwene.
“The implementation of sexual reproductive health will reduce morbidity and mortality from unsafe illegal abortions, thus reducing maternal mortality, and complying with sustainable development goals (SDG 3).
“It is clear that abstinence will protect teenagers from all unwanted pregnancy, so it is important to rather spend your youth getting a good education than wasting it by getting sick and pregnant. We should also rid our girls of the false perception that it is cool to be a teen mom, as it is not. When our young boys and girls are teenagers, they are still children. I advise our youth to wait until they are mature and have proper jobs before they start families or have babies.”
Lekwene said that although the Northern Cape had seen a 4% decrease in HIV prevalence, the department will not slack on spreading the message of testing and leading healthy lifestyles.
“We have noted a decline in the HIV prevalence among youth between the ages of 15 to 25 years over the past three years. This is a positive indication that our young people used HIV prevention methods such as condoms throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We will vigorously scale up the promotion of the HIV self-screening test in order for you to do an HIV test in the comfort and privacy of your home, but most importantly if the self-screening test shows positive, you have to report to your nearest clinic for confirmation of this test, the same principle as a pregnancy test.”
He added that with the aim of making health services more accessible and “friendly” to the youth, the department will roll out youth zones at public clinics.
“The aim of these youth zones is to provide safe spaces for youth, to ensure access to services at times convenient to the youth and to provide peer-lead health education and psychosocial support.
“We will roll out value clarification training for our health professionals in order for us to understand your needs better and provide quality and affordable health services without stigma and discrimination,” said Lekwene.
