The Department of Health in the Bojanala District this week launched the MINA (Nna, I) campaign with the aim of empowering men to help reduce the scourge of HIV and AIDS and to talk about socio-economic challenges facing them. The campaign was launched on Wednesday, in Letlhabile, Brits. The Madibeng Aurum Institute area manager Msanyana Skhosana encouraged men to take a stand against HIV and Aids and said MINA is a national campaign which started in 2022 and all about men taking responsibility for their own health.
“MINA simply means NNA, ME, it means it starts with me, it’s me as a man who must take care of my health. MINA, For Men, For Health, is about reconstructing men’s relationship with healthcare by creating self actualized men who are integrated into the healthcare system and are deliberate in their desire to understand their health and take their treatment, no matter what. It will move men from a constant state of despondency to a state of being intentional about their health and taking their treatment, ” said Skhosana.
More than 50 men who attended the launch said the platform will come in handy, as they’ll be able to address their challenges with their counterparts. 40-year-old Thabo Israel Davy from Letlhabile zone 14 said is hopeful that the launch will assist men simply because they fear the unknown, adding that he believed that most men have pride which affects their way of thinking hence they refuse to go to the clinic or see a doctor.
Ernest Shelane who’s also from Letlhabile said the campaign has hit home, as he was sharing a story on how his father passed away, after suffering from prostate cancer. “I do not want to be like my father, he refused to get medical attention even on his dying bed, he feared going to the doctor but before he took his last breath, he encouraged me to be bold and take a stand when it comes to my health,” Shelane said.
