The Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management had a record number of accepted presentations for the recent 9th SA AIDS Conference held from 11-14 June 2019 at the Durban ICC. In total, five ex-Mphil students’ research outputs were accepted: Four students were accepted to do oral presentations and one student was accepted to do a poster presentation. The oral presentations were: Mr Tsepo Mako (“The success and failures of PrEP-the perspective of discordant couples at Lesotho Defence Force”), Ms Monica Mutetwa (“An explorative study into shortages and understaffing of professional medical staff: A case study at Bonda Mission Hospital, Zimbabwe), Ms Mandu Mguli (“The Blesser-Blessee Phenomenon and HIV: The perceptions and attitudes of young women on the factors that influence their peers to engage in inter-generational sexual relationships in Mofolo Central and Dube Townships”), and Ms Refiloe Ntoi (“The importance of task-shifting in the management of HIV and AIDS as understood by nursing students at the Nursing & Primary Health Care Institute in Durban, South Africa”). Ms Juliane Kum’s research (“Reducing HIV related stigma and increasing access to voluntary counseling and testing”) was accepted for a poster presentation.

Says, Mr Tsepo Mako (pictured) about his experience at the conference, “Being part of this event was a moment to cherish over an over again. The reception from registration to the speakers’ room was fantastic. When the time came for my presentation, the chair gave a very colourful introduction about me and this gave me a lot of courage to present my research findings. I felt so humbled by being on that stage and I got to appreciate how far I have grown academically”. Tsepo, who excelled during his presentation, says that the conference was an eye opener to him and that he will forever be thankful to have been a part of it.

Well done to Tsepo and fellow Mphil students!