MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay Municipality and the local transport industry recently joined hands in a first-of-its-kind initiative in the Western Cape to create positive change in upscaling the quality of health and wellness services to the community.
The aim is to empower communities with knowledge to address health issues caused by overcrowding and poor ventilation in living, working, public transport and congregant settings in communities that increase, among other, TB transmissions among the vulnerable.
This programme will consist of quarterly workshops with taxi operators (executives) together with the Health Department, Mossel Bay Municipality and the provincial regulating entity.
On-site workshops will also be conducted on a continuous basis at the Mossel Bay taxi rank, Mikeva taxi rank and Langeberg Mall taxi rank. Various stakeholders partnered with the Health Department and Mossel Bay Municipality and signed a pledge to act as gatekeepers for the vulnerable to bring social change to people who are disproportionately affected by HIV, TB and STIs due to their higher risk behaviours and/or legal and social issues that increase their vulnerability to health problems.
The plan for the initiative taken by the Mossel Bay Municipality and the various stakeholders is to:
• Educate communities about HIV/Aids, TB, STI's, Road Safety and the Road Traffic Act as well as the National Land Transport Act.
• Engineer behavioural change of communities, because the social customs and norms of communities influence individual behaviour not only on a social level, but also as the drivers of taxis that service the community.
• Create capacity to identify, implement and manage more community ownership, sustainability and capacity within the community and within the different taxi associations.
• Strengthen social capital in the form of increased trust and reduced stigma and strengthened positive social changes not only on health aspects, but also on the transport industry. Anyone interested in joining this initiative may contact Alma Kritzinger (akritzinger@mosselbay.gov.za) or Robert Jansen (rjansen@mosselbay.gov.za).
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