“At CPUT, we are creating futures - but most importantly we want to create healthy futures.” These were the words of Dean of Student Affairs Cora Njoli-Motale, at the launch of CPUT’s Mobile Wellness Unit on the Bellville Campus on World Aids Day. The state-of-the-art vehicle is testament to the hard work and vision of CPUT’s HIV Institutional Coordinating Committee (HICC) within the HIV/AIDS Unit, and is a fitting symbol of one of the themes of this year’s World Aids Day - universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support.

Dean of Student Affairs Cora Njoli-Motale, gets a good look at CPUT’s Mobile Wellness Unit as the state-of-the-art vehicle is launched on the Bellville Campus on World Aids Day.

The spacious and well-equipped mobile unit aims to encompass all the health services offered by the HIV/AIDS Unit, Student Health, Student Counseling and the Disability Unit, and will give CPUT the muscle to reach all its service sites, internally and externally. Broad coverage of all of CPUT’s satellite campuses, as well as the surrounding communities is envisaged. This will allow the unit to provide a platform for a holistic wellness strategy for screening, appropriate referrals and health promotion, enhancing the well-being of students, staff and the broader community.Funded by the European Union (EU) through the Higher Education HIV/AIDS Programme, (HEAIDS) some of the tests that will be conducted in the unit include voluntary counseling and testing for HIV, blood pressure and cholesterol analysis, screening for tuberculosis, testing for pregnancy, emergency contraception and condom distribution. Alex Semba, Projects Coordinator at the HIV/AIDS Unit says the mobile unit will have a registered nurse and a counselor available everyday and will start operating from early 2011.
He adds, “This is an exciting day for the entire CPUT. The HIV/AIDS unit would like to thank the EU for the funding and our Executive Management for the encouragement and support.”Joining in the celebrations at the launch, Vice-Chancellor Prof Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga reiterated that CPUT has a responsibility to engage with and give back to the broader community. “By not supporting people who are living with HIV/AIDS, we’ll be sentencing South Africa to a guillotine. We hope that not only CPUT will benefit from this initiative, but also the entire Western Cape community.”A little further afield, World Aids Day was also marked on 1st December in a moving and joyous ceremony on CPUT’s Wellington Campus. In a joint initiative with the Hawequa Correctional Centre, CPUT donated funds generated from the HIV/AIDS Road Race held in September to two local orphanages that care for children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Wellington Student Affairs Sports Development Officer, Tyrone Africa, is certain the annual Boland Athletics-accredited race will grow into one of the premier races in the region, attracting the top athletes in the Boland, and thereby generating more funds for worthy organisations who tackle HIV/AIDS head-on.This year, the caregivers from “House of Hope” and “Let the Children Come” orphanages in Mbekweni in Paarl were the delighted recipients of the cash donation, and a brand-new Wendy house to replace the dilapidated structure that had previously housed children at one of the care facilities.

Mrs Wendy of "House of Hope" and Mrs Miriam of "Let the Children Come", two of the orphanages in Mbekweni , Paarl, that received funds from the proceeds of the annual HIV/AIDS Road Race, jointly organised by CPUT Wellington and the Hawequa Correctional Centre.

Speaking at the handover event in Wellington, Manager for Civic Engagement at CPUT’s Community Engagement and Work Integrated Learning Centre, Buntu Gwija, echoed the Vice-Chancellor’s sentiments about CPUT’s mandate to engage with communities. “As a university, we need to play a central role in guiding communities to be responsible communities. The people sitting here are united in one voice that says we care, we are concerned about HIV/AIDS.”

By Andiswa Dantile & Jan Weintrob

Written by CPUT News

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From 20 to 24 October 2008, CPUT participated in a Higher Education HIV/AIDS Programme (HEAIDS) survey into the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in institutions of higher education.

With approval from CPUT’s Health Science Faculty Ethics Committee and in collaboration with the HIV/AIDS Unit, a research team from Higher Education South Africa (HESA) randomly selected various departments and faculties to participate in the strictly confidential and voluntary survey.

CPUT’s involvement was part of a broader study currently being conducted by HESA at all public higher education institutions in South Africa to establish the knowledge, attitudes and practices related to HIV/AIDS and to measure the HIV infection levels amongst staff and students. In total, 22 universities and 25,000 students and staff will be involved.

The survey’s findings will be vital in providing a better understanding of HIV/AIDS at CPUT and in the higher education sector in the country in general. They will also serve to inform effective responses to the epidemic, including policy, funding, prevention programmes, and care and support services for staff and students. Results will be made available through the media and through HEAIDS once the entire survey is complete in 2009.

“The survey is useful to CPUT because the data will tell us more about attitudes, trends and behaviours and what sort of intervention programmes need to be implemented,” said the HOD of the HIV/AIDS Unit, Mr. Ashraf Mohammed. “More importantly, we will have a baseline not only for CPUT, but for all 22 institutions which can be used to compare and recommend best practices.”

Launched in 2000 and involving the Department of Education, HEAIDS is South Africa’s first nationally-coordinated and large scale response to HIV/AIDS in the higher education sector. Its purpose is “to reduce the threat of the spread of HIV/AIDS in the higher education sector, to mitigate its impact through planning and capacity development and to manage the impact of the pandemic in a way that reflects the ethical, social, knowledge transmission and production responsibilities that are the mission of HEIs in society.”

Similarly, the mission of the HIV/AIDS Unit at CPUT (based on Cape Town Campus) is to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS/STI and TB on staff and students on all five CPUT campuses.

With an acute understanding that young people are particularly vulnerable to the disease, the Unit’s ten staff members provide a variety of interventions and services: workshops on campus and in the broader community; awareness and prevention campaigns; a peer education programme; Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT); care and support for people infected and affected; and innovative research.

By Sarah Burdeniuk, HIV/AIDS Unit

Written by CPUT News
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Piercing forward with its commitment to an HIV-free generation, CPUT recently hosted a very successful HIV/Aids Policy Framework and Monitoring & Evaluation Workshop for universities in the Western Cape at its Bellville campus.

Delegates included those running workplace programmes, human resource departments, campus health services, unions, staff associations and staff members working on HIV curricula.

The event, which was organized by the Higher Education HIV/Aids Programme (HEAIDS), focused on various issues surrounding HIV/AIDS in Higher Education such as the importance of prevention programmes and the need for funding.

Feizel Mamdoo, Higher Education South Afica’s communications manager, presented the HIV/Aids Policy Framework for Higher Education during the workshop.

By Kwanele Butana

Written by CPUT News
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