media releases - Unisa staff and students to undergo voluntary HIV testing

On Friday, 20 April 2012, Unisa will officially join the national First Things First HIV Counselling and Testing campaign when testing is conducted for staff and students at the Main Campus, ZK Matthews Hall, Theo Van Wijk Building, Preller Street, Muckleneuk Ridge, Pretoria.

The testing will take place between 10:00 and 12:00. This will be followed by testing at other Unisa campuses, branches and offices nationwide between April and September 2012. It will eventually cover approximately 12 000 students and staff members, thus making it the largest testing by a single tertiary institution so far.

The roll out dates for the rest of the campaign at Unisa are : Nelspruit (24 April); Mthatha (11 May); East London (11 May); Port Elizabeth (11 May); Polokwane (4 June); Giyani (6 June); Makhado (8 June); Ekurhuleni (8 August); Johannesburg (13 August); Vaal (10 August); Florida (15 August); Sunnyside (16 August); Cape Town (15 August); Middleburg (22 August); Rustenburg (7 September); Potchefstroom (12 September); Mafikeng (14 September); Bloemfontein (18 September); Kimberley (19 September); and Kroonstad (21 September); Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Newcastle, Richards Bay and Wild Coast (17 – 21 September).

The campaign was officially launched by the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize at the University of the Western Cape on 21 February 2012.

The First Things First Campaign is a public-private partnership initiative led by the Higher Education HIV/AIDS Programme (HEAIDS), in partnership with Innovative Medicines South Africa (IMSA). The Department of Health, the Department of Higher Education, the South African National Aids Council (SANAC), the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD), with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) are members of this initiative.