December 14, 2005
By Anish Abraham
JOBURG'S emergency management services (EMS) unit commemorated World Aids Day by lighting a chain of candles adorned with red ribbons, in remembrance of those who have lost their lives to Aids-related illnesses, while also sparing a thought for abused women and children.
The sombre event took place at the engine bays of the Florida Park fire station in Roodepoort, on 13 December. The services' top management, about 100 personnel and HIV/Aids activist Criselda Kananda attended the commemoration.
Prior to entering the engine bays, EMS personnel were given T-shirts, information pamphlets, candles with red ribbons attached to them and condoms.
Children from Thabong Early Learning Centre and Happiness Day Care Centre entertained the guests
Programme director for the day, Kananda, read a touching poem about those who are affected by Aids. She said that in the time it took her to read the poem, another four people would have been infected with HIV.
"But this is a day to celebrate life, not death." Kananda said that there were no Aids "sufferers", since a person who had been infected could still lead a healthy, active life as long as they took proper care of themselves.
Dr Audrey Gule, the chief of the EMS, urged all employees to read the City's Workplace Wellness, HIV and Aids Policy, so that they would know what to do when affected by any illness.
"Those in leadership have extra responsibility to ensure people in their units are educated. They have to assume the role of a caregiver."
Gule said the EMS had committed itself in 2004 to make the unit a safer and better place for its employees, and that the latest event served as a rededication of efforts to fight HIV/Aids.
Khosi Mashego, the assistant director for wellness and HIV/Aids in the workplace in the City's occupational health and safety department, said she was glad to see many in senior management committing themselves to raising awareness among their staff.
The City was committed to ensuring the wellbeing of its employees and took a holistic approach to dealing with their health issues. "It improves employee productivity and reduces absenteeism," she said.
Johannesburg also has a mobile team that visits its departments and encourages staff to undergo voluntary counselling and testing.
"Critically ill employees are given house visits and we also provide emotional and psychological support in the comfort of their homes," Mashego said.
The unit has a budget of R4,6-million from the City and R460 000 from the department of provincial and local government. There are 169 employees on the City's antiretroviral (ARV) programme, who are given ARVs, immune boosters and nutritional supplements free of charge.
"We also help with the treatment of opportunistic diseases by providing our employees with antibiotics," she said.
The programme to supply HIV-positive employees has been up and running for almost a year and Mashego said employees appreciated Joburg's comprehensive healthcare programme.
Apart from those affected by HIV/Aids, there are employees getting help for psychosocial problems, post-traumatic stress, substance abuse and stress-related issues.
Khunjulwa Mtlemeza, an HIV-positive employee working in the Diepkloof library, is one staff member who has benefitted from the HIV/Aids policy. "I tested positive in 1995 - then the perception was that one would die soon afterwards."
She kept her status to herself, but was forced to reveal it once she started to suffer from illnesses like tuberculosis, pneumonia and deep vein thrombosis. "But I survived through all of this and I now receive immune boosters and nutritional supplements through the City's programme."
Kananda commended Mtlemeza for her perseverance, saying, "There is still so much life after your diagnosis." All that was needed was for one to alter one's lifestyle in terms of eating and keeping physically fit.
Aids is an issue close to the heart of Councillor Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, member of the mayoral committee for public safety, who lost a close relative to the illness.
"I wore a red ribbon from time to time thinking I knew all there was to know about Aids, but that all changed after a close relative became infected," she said.
Nkosi-Malobane told the gathered guests of the shock she felt after seeing her relative in a poor state. "I took a decision in 2002 to better understand HIV/Aids. I took the decision for myself, for my family and for the communities I have to work in."
She added that the City cared about the wellbeing of its employees, taking a holistic approach that included access to clinics, voluntary counselling and testing, access to supplements, ARVs and antibiotics as well as psychological and emotional support.
"But the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, good diet and regular exercise cannot be overemphasised," she concluded.
While Gule pledged to ensure the workplace programme succeeded and made an impact on employees, Kananda said Aids should be see as an acronym for Am I Doing Something?.
In remembrance of the many lives lost to the virus, EMS directors lit a commemorative candle, before other guests lit their candles from each other, symbolic of the collective responsibility of people in the fight against HIV/Aids.
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