SOUTH Africa’s leading HIV/Aids organization, The Aids Consortium, has turned to science and technology to fight the world’s number one killer disease.
The Aids Consortium has a new approach to fight the epidemic, which is estimated to infect 1 500 South Africans everyday, while claiming the lives of around 900.
As a result of growing HIV/Aids cases with increasing numbers of orphaned children, the Aids Consortium has introduced a cyber café readily available to individuals, the organisation’s affiliates, university students and other private companies interested in research about the epidemic.
In an interview with ITNewsAfrica on Monday, The Aids Consortium’s Communications manager, Rhulani Lehloka, said the use of technology came into being following a partnership with another Aids organisation, AIDSPortal.
“The AIDS Consortium has recently entered into a partnership with AIDSPortal, a global initiative that aims to facilitate greater knowledge, sharing and networking among organizations involved in the response to HIV/Aids.
“The AIDS Consortium is the coordinating leader of the South African AIDSPortal website, which means that The AIDS Consortium is responsible for organizing the information, gathering strategic information from key events and policy processes, as well as providing training on AIDSPortal tools to potential users, including AIDS Consortium affiliates. Our cyber café and computer centre enable us to perform our coordinating role,” said Lehloka.
She said a mindset – an interactive HIV/Aids learning system – has been installed as one of the services offered in the AIDS Consortium’s resource centre.
“This will enable users to learn about HIV/Aids and quiz themselves on the knowledge gained. This service is open to anyone who is interested. However, a remaining challenge is the shortage of computer skills in our society, as only a small percentage is computer savvy and is therefore comfortable with using the technology to source information.
“The AIDS Consortium tries to address this challenge by providing basic computer literacy to those working in communities,” said Lehloka. The Aids Consortium, based in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, is a leading HIV/Aids organisation when it comes to fighting this epidemic which is killing an average of five million South Africans annually–ITNewsAfrica.
