Global fund helps Western Cape women fight HIV infections
THE Western Cape health department’s efforts to slow the tide of new HIV infections among young women has received a boost with a R81m grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.While the province has a much lower HIV/AIDS prevalence than the rest of the country, there are sharp variations within the region, and within the Cape metropole.The three-year grant is for programmes targeting girls and young women in Nyanga, Mitchells Plain, Gugulethu, Manenberg, Heideveld and Athlone, where more than 30% of women attending antenatal clinics last year were HIV positive. A total of 1,860 pregnant women tested positive among the 6,204 tested. Young teen pregnancies are also a challenge — 400 of these pregnancies were among girls under 15.The high HIV infection rate was fuelled by alcohol and drug abuse, including tik, said Stephanie Fourie, the department’s HIV/ AIDS manager for the Mitchells Plain and Klipfontein area. The initiative is called the Young Women and Gir...
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