By Nangamso Mabindla
8 July 2004

INITIAL findings have revealed that, of the 1 100 people who took part in a Medical Research Council study of HIV prevalence among Buffalo City municipal employees, 10 percent tested positive for the virus.

This was confirmed by Shaun Petzer, a City health official.

"We are happy with the percentage," he said. "It's not high - and clearly indicates we have a relatively healthy staff at Buffalo."

Now the MRC's Liz Thomas and Prof Sydney Rosen from the school of public health at Boston University in the United States will visit Buffalo City to assess the impact of the virus on the municipality's workforce.

"The professor has been conducting research to discover the economic impact of the virus both internally (on staffing) and externally (on service delivery) on the municipality," Petzer said.

Rosen will use the data from the Buffalo City study in his research into the economic impact of HIV and Aids on other local governments in South Africa - a first for the country.

The visitors will also look at: knowledge, attitude and practices; the prevalence study itself; and the economic impact.

Of the 10 percent of people who tested positive, only 20 percent were in the advanced stage of the illness and required antiretroviral treatment.

"The other 80 percent are in the early stages of the virus," Petzer said. "We will assist them by educating them on ways to stay healthy, which involves exercise and eating healthy."

The municipality is drawing up plans to distribute medication.

"Because the supply of these drugs is sometimes slow, we need to strategise on how we'll distribute them to the people."

The City will work with the South African Cities Network to find out how other cities distribute the drugs.

"This virus is not unique to Buffalo City. That is why we need to get the expertise from other cities on how to tackle this virus in our workplace," Petzer added.