Business
3 hours ago
Sanac calls for the protection of children in fight against HIV
JOHANNESBURG - The South African National AIDS Council Civil Society Forum wants to see healthcare services catering specifically to the youth.
The majority of the country's new HIV infections occur among girls and young women aged 15 to 24 in KwaZulu Natal.
Sanac coordinating committee member, Mabalane Mfundisi, says those infecting minors and others with HIV must be prosecuted and parents and the police need to do more to protect children.
Mfundisi said, "in the wake of the relentless fight that we are all enjoined in winning, the issue of HIV escalates to 15-year-olds... A 15-year-old is a young child. The intersectionality between those young people and those that provide this type of challenge to them. Mainly, adult males who are mobile with money is a challenge that we need to deal with. A 15 year old being pregnant, a 15-year-old contracting HIV from another that is a criminal offence and we must deal with is for what it is."
"It must start at the basic level, that particular 15-year-old has parents, they have guardians."
"Whoever had done that particular act to them needs to face the might of the law, the police must play their part and arrest those people that is criminality."
"At an external level we need to ensure that those charged with those responsibilities must do their part, the minister of police and other adults around that particular learner have to ensure that they protect children."