HEAIDS Youth Conference Attracts South Africa S Top Policymakers
HEAIDS Youth Conference attracts South Africa’s top policymakers
IMMEDIATE RELEASE 06 JUNE 2017
Over one thousand eight hundred young people from across the country, will gather at the first of its kind HEAIDS Youth Conference, taking place from 09 – 11 June 2017 to discuss youth economic empowerment, social inequality, HIV, STI, TB, general health and other challenges affecting them. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa along with several other government ministers will join young people and key decision makers from civil society and educational organisations as they create an open dialogue between those who make and enforce policy and those who it impacts. The youth delegates will include learners from schools, universities, TVET colleges and communities.
The Youth Conference, organised by the Higher Education and Training HIV/AIDS Programme (HEAIDS), will take place at the Durban International Conference Centre. Minster of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi and Deputy Minister of Higher Education MduduziManana and other various other leaderswill also be in attendance.
“We are delighted to welcome delegates from all over South Africa, in Youth Month,to the first HEAIDS Youth Conference,” says Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia, Director of HEAIDS. “Evidence has clearly shown that most of the new HIV infections are coming from the youth. Social determinants in South Africa have demonstrated the vulnerability of our youth to issues like sexual and gender based violence, the blesser/blessee phenomenon, drugs and alcohol abuse, transactional sex and gross economic disparity. The only way we can transform South Africa is through youth development.”
The conference which is themed “UkuhlonyiswaKwabasha”, meaning“Empowering the Youth”, will be chaired by Doctor YoganPillay, Deputy Director General of the Department of Health, and AndileMthombeni, Research Pschology Student at Wits. The event will create a platform for South African youth to share insights and suggestions and to shape innovative practices in health education, health promotion, knowledge generation and capacity building amongst our youth within the post school sector.
“This initiative is ground breaking as it will force policy makers to confront the real issues affecting our young people, and facilitate the co-creation of a solution for the HIV epidemic in South Africa,” says Pillay. “We must address the pandemic, particularly in the higher education sector. Health issues undermine the achievement of South Africa’s core educational outcomes and put the future of our country at risk.”
“We need to start listening to our young people and supporting them in taking responsibility for their health and their future,” says Mthombeni. “By bringing together academics, government and civil society we can work together to find the best strategies for preventing HIV and promoting healthy lifestyles.”
“We look forward to a productive discourse that will lead to broad consensus on what we will do and how we will do it,” says Ahluwalia. “We will use the knowledge we gain at the conferenceto ensure prevention, treatment and care reaches all young South Africans and in so doing, ensure a brighter future for our entire country.”
For more information on the HEAIDS Youth Conference please visit or phone 012 816 9149.
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ABOUT HEAIDS
The Higher Education and Training HIV & AIDS national programme (HEAIDS) aims to develop and support HIV/TB/STI mitigation initiatives and promote health and wellness across South Africa's public higher education institutions (HEIs) and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.
It is a programme of the Department of Higher Education and Training that is undertaken by Universities South Africa (USAf), the representative body of the 26 HEIs, in partnership with South African College Principals Organisation (SACPO), the representative body of 50 public TVETs.
As part of an increasingly comprehensive HIV/TB/STI mitigation programme in the higher education and training sector, HEAIDS implements the following projects in partnership with a range of public and private sector role players:
- First Things First HCT/TB/STI General Health & Wellness Programme
- Men Health and Empowerment Programme
- Women Health and Empowerment Programme
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Programme
- MSM and LGBTI Programme
- Academic Capacity Development Programme
- Future Beats Youth Development and HIV prevention through campus radio and social media.
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