‘Mantoetse Maama
MASERU — Health Minister Mphu Ramatlapeng will today launch a national door-to-door voluntary HIV testing and support campaign at Ha Bua Sono in Berea district.
The campaign will kick start in Berea and Mafeteng districts and later extend to the country’s other eight districts.
Ministry of Health public relations officer, ‘Mateboho Mosebekoa, said the minister will launch the campaign at St.Cecilia Catholic Mission in Berea.
“After the launch of the campaign by the minister, health personnel will start testing people who live in Ha Bua Sona and Qopo villages,” Mosebekoa said.
She said the ongoing campaign is part of the ministry’s mission to achieve zero new HIV and Aids infections, zero deaths and zero mother-to-child transmissions.
The programme would give people a chance to know their HIV status and those who have tested positive will be encouraged to go to their nearest health centres for further assistance.
“As for those who test negative they should keep it that way by behaving well so that we don’t have new infections,” Mosebekoa said.
She added that the ministry would revisit homes where they would have missed the owners during the first visit.
Also, another round of testing would be done after the three-month window period for those who test negative initially.
According to Ministry of Health estimates, Lesotho has an average of 18 000 new infections every year.
The campaign is run by the ministry in conjunction with the Lesotho Inter-religious Aids Consortium (LIRAC) and Population Services International (PSI).
LIRAC works with churches in the fight against HIV and Aids, while PSI sponsored the programme.
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