Museum puts HIV on display

21 July 2016 - 09:31 By SHELLEY SEID

Jenny Boyce-Hlongwa was at death's door when she became patient 21, a moment that changed her life. Boyce-Hlongwa was the 21st person to arrive at the Aids Healthcare Foundation's first treatment and care site at the Ithembalabantu Clinic in Umlazi, Durban, in 2002.Her narrative is on display this week at the refurbished KwaMuhle Museum in Durban. It is named "South African Voices: Towards a Museum of HIV Memory and Learning."The exhibit, the first of its kind in South Africa, opened on Monday night, ahead of the International Aids 2016 conference.Created as a legacy project of Aids 2016, the exhibition documents a critical and defining chapter in South African history."It offers all people space to celebrate the achievements and reflect on the journey we have taken from the dark days of denialism," said project director, info4africa's Debbie Heustice.Made possible through funding from the eThekwini municipality and pharmaceutical company Avacare Health, and created in consultation with a range of sectors in society, the museum will occupy its current space until the end of next year.A double room houses the exhibition. It features sex worker "bodywraps" on pillars, six televisions screening loops of personal experiences and murals.Twenty-two youth volunteers, called "learning ambassadors", are there to help guests navigate the exhibition .Heustice says that every Aids conference attempts to create a lasting legacy.In the case of the second Durban Aids conference, the legacy is both the museum and the newly established Nkosi Johnson memorial lecture.The inaugural lecture, delivered by Quarraisha Abdool Karim, associate scientific director at research organisation Caprisa, took place at the opening of the exhibition.Boyce-Hlongwa's story came to light through her work at the Aids Healthcare Foundation."I still go there to get my treatment, so I was featured. I worry about the next generation. I worry that we may not be moving forward," she said.ATM WITH A DIFFERENCE DISPENSES MEDICINESIt is called a PDU and its function is to end the queues while dispensing medicines."The pharmacy dispensing unit, currently being piloted at Thembalethu clinic in Johannesburg, is a self-service machine from which patients can get their medication in the same way people draw money at an ATM," says ministry of health spokesman Joe Maila.Once registered, a patient will receive "a card similar to a bank card.To 'withdraw' medicine, users simply insert their card into the PDU, enter their PIN and select the medication they require from their prescription," Maila said.This would be immediately dispensedMaila says the "PDU also enables patients to talk to pharmacists via a video conferencing function".Other tech developments presented at the conference include:Mothers2Mothers, "a service connecting new mothers to experienced mentors for help through their pregnancy";Medication Adherence app, "which reminds users of clinic or hospital visits and to take their scheduled meds"; andB-Wise, "a youth-focused online service that provides young people with health information and gets health-related questions answered for them by an expert within 48 hours". - TMG Digital, Staff reporter..

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