Panafrican News Agency - November 29, 2001

Organisers say the volunteers will deal with discrimination against HIV/AIDS sufferers, attempt to deepen understanding of issues related to HIV/AIDS and link families to local services.

At least seven thousand volunteers will work door-to-door for four days across the province and will reach more than 3 million people by Friday.

The volunteers will use a total of 7 million stickers and distribute 2.5 million pamphlets to spread the message of the campaign under the slogan "I care enough to act. Do you?"

Radio messages will be increased to reach an audience estimated at 20 million during the campaign.

Companies, churches and prisons will also take AIDS messages into their own organisations.

Over this period 320 organisations have already collected materials and the flow continues.

Meanwhile, the Gauteng provincial government sid it has organised events in all provincial government departments to address its own staff on the pandemic.

The campaign is focused on key messages like "making a difference, overcome discrimination and build support for people living with AIDS and their families".

This trend involves a shift from focussing only on individuals to involving families and communities.

"Positive living, there is hope for people living with HIV/AIDS. With a healthy lifestyle, psychosocial support and good medical care, people can live meaningful, productive lives for many years" are also key campaign messages.

Under the Partnership against AIDS "in Action" focus, the department of Health and the Gauteng Provincial Government reveals having the resources to support affected families.

There are 480 clinics over 80 percent of which have the essentials to provide appropriate care.

About 80 percent of the 2000 schools in the province have staff trained to provide some support to affected children and 57 home- based care projects which help families care for people ill at home and provide general support to the family are already operational.

A comprehensive programme, which includes six pilot sites for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV infection, is in place in six areas of the province, provincial officials say.

An important pillar of the Gauteng AIDS strategy is the local inter-sectoral AIDS programmes which combine all sectors in local campaigns co-ordinated by local government.

The Local AIDS programme is part of an international trend to ensure that the Partnership against AIDS addresses those at greatest risk of HIV infection and reaches those in greatest need of care and support, especially those orphaned as a result of the epidemic.

Campaign volunteers are drawn from local community groups, NGOs and government staff already involved in AIDS issues. They include youth groups, people who are HIV positive, home-carers, peer educators and counsellors.

Volunteers have been trained for the campaign and will be identified by caps and volunteer stickers.

The door-to-door campaign prioritises people in greatest need of education and support, those in poor communities, in difficult social conditions, with lower levels of education and access to information.

It focuses on informal settlements, the inner city, hostels and semi-urban areas, whereby campaigners will identify families in need and refer them to local services.

The street campaign targets commuters using public transport on stations, taxi ranks and bus terminuses to boost awareness and give up-to-date feedback on the public response.
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