PS INFORMATION THABO KAWANA TAKES PUBLIC HIV TEST, URGES ZAMBIANS TO KNOW THEIR HIV STATUS.

Driven by a passion to see a generation free of HIV, Ministry of Information and Media (MIM) Permanent Secretary (PS) Thabo Kawana has taken a public HIV test to encourage Zambians to know their status.

Participating in today’s National HIV Testing and Counselling Day, themed “Free Your Mind, Mr. Kawana who tested negative said it is prudent for citizens to know their status as that would give them powerful information on how to live longer.

Mr. Kawana underscores that being HIV positive is not a death sentence as there are treatments that keep you healthy and be able to lead a long healthy life.

The Permanent Secretary emphasised that being HIV positive is like having any other pre-existing health condition like Hypertension which only requires someone to learn how to live with it.

Mr. Kawana, living with stage 4 Kidney Disease, revealed that having a kidney condition is not easy but he has accepted the condition and is living in accordance with the lifestyle measures recommended by nephrologists who are specialised in diagnosing and treating kidney conditions.

He since advised those that will test HIV positive to accept the condition and ensure timely uptake of antiretroviral therapy to improve their health outcomes and reduce transmission.

And Mr. Kawana noted that have been diagnosed with HIV should involve themselves into having multiple sexual partners in order to spread the virus.

He said the risk of having several sexual partners when HIV positive is that one could re-infect oneself with a different strain of the virus.

Mr. Kawana further encouraged teenagers to avoid participating in high-risk behaviors, including premarital sexual activities.

The Permanent secretary also stated that leaders must be unwavering in their support of HIV testing, ensuring that everyone has access to medication if they test positive.

“Having sex with multiple people does not make one a star but rather exposes them to diseases, it is therefore imperative for one to abstain” Mr. Kawana said

Meanwhile, Certified Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Tuberculosis (TB) Specialist Adrian Sakala advised individuals that will test HIV positive to immediately start treatment.

While administering an HIV test to Mr. Kawana, a clinical officer Akafuna Geoffrey indicated that rapid blood tests show two lines if positive or one line if negative, in a similar way as a pregnancy test and he declared that Mr. Kawana is HIV negative as indicated in the results from the laboratory tests.