South Africa’s health minister says the country must continue touse sports to highlight social issues long after the World Cup.Many commentators have expressed concern that the legacy of theWorld Cup will be limited to stadiums and roads, but Dr. AaronMotsoaledi said the biggest benefit will be a change in publicattitude toward health care in a country with 0.72 percent of theworld population but 17 percent of deaths attributed to AIDS.The success of the World Cup as a vehicle to increase awarenessof AIDS and tuberculosis showed that soccer is particularly usefulin connecting with a population that has historically been hard toreach, Motsoaledi said.“It’s up to us in South Africa. This momentum must not belost,” he said. “People want the issue of testing and knowingabout your health to be something that must happen in every daylife and this has helped us to remove the stigma.”Mobile AIDS- and HIV-testing stations have been situated atmatches in the buildup to the monthlong tournament, and soccerballs bearing tips on how to recognize and prevent TB have beendistributed to thousands of children.“Since the beginning of World Cup fever around the country,it’s been very easy to use sports for other social issues,health-related issues,” Motsoaledi said. “We gave the… Read full this story
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