Matsapha – His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) has intensified its role in the national fight against HIV, hosting an early World AIDS Day commemoration under the theme “Corrections Overcoming Disruptions: Transforming the AIDS Response.”
The event, held at the HMCS headquarters, featured a public awareness march from EBIS to the service’s grounds, where officers, partners, and stakeholders shared the importance of HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and ongoing support for people living with the virus.
A candlelight ceremony also formed part of the programme, honouring lives lost to AIDS-related illnesses and reaffirming HMCS’s commitment to expanding health services within correctional facilities.
NERCHA National Executive Director Dr. Nondumiso Ncube said transforming the AIDS response within correctional settings meant repositioning facilities as centres of rehabilitation, empowerment, health promotion, and prevention. She added that the goal is to ensure inmates leave the correctional system “healthier, more informed, and better equipped to protect themselves and their partners.”
Dr Ncube applauded HMCS for delivering essential and life-sustaining health services to inmates. Inmates have access to HIV testing and treatment, TB care, psychosocial support, and continuity of medication. These intervensions are to reducing new HIV infections and preventing AIDS-related deaths.
HMCS said its early commemoration typically observed globally on December 1 reflects its renewed commitment to building resilient, health-focused correctional environments that contribute meaningfully to the country’s broader HIV response
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