UNDETECTABLE equals to Untransmittable (U=U) is the message that was spread in Durban on Tuesday, 20 June.
Ethekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda launched the U=U campaign in Durban in collaboration with UNAIDS. The launch was held ahead of the 11th SA AIDS Conference, which started on Tuesday, 20 June and will end on Friday, 23 June.
The campaign aims to create awareness about the evidence that people living with HIV, who are on treatment as prescribed, can suppress the virus and not transmit it to their partners and unborn babies.
The campaign also seeks to empower people living with HIV, while encouraging people to use condoms, be faithful to their partners, to abstain from sexual activities and to get tested for HIV.
“We call on eThekwini residents to rise and join this campaign to end new HIV infections. The city started the Thuma Mina campaign to encourage men to live a healthy lifestyle. This created a platform for men to openly discuss issues that confront them daily and encourage them to undergo voluntary male medical circumcision," he said.
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He said The U=U campaign also seeks to focus on the children’s sector as there are children living with the virus who are not on treatment. Kaunda urged parents to take their children to the clinic and get them started on treatment.
“It is worrying that young people are the hardest hit when it comes to new HIV infections. Therefore, we encourage young people to get tested and as parents, we must support our children,” said Kaunda.
He said to successfully drive this campaign, the city has placed 27 peer educators and 14 adherence officers at health facilities to strengthen adherence and retention in care.
He said the city is not only encouraging people to get tested for HIV but is making every effort to link them to care if they test positive.
“Recently, 10 498 people tested positive for HIV and 9 598 were linked into care which translates to a 91,4% linkage rate. We have also started a new campaign of actively tracing previous patients who have defaulted on treatment from various health facilities,” he said.
An HIV positive resident told Daily Sun: "Gone are the days when the HIV-positive people were discriminated against. And this will educate people more about the virus."
