tutu tester unit gets seal of approval from the arch

`"'This world is a world that is in danger. We are leaving the world in your hands, the hands of the young. So for goodness sake, know your status.'

These were the words of an optimistic Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu when he was visited by the Tutu Tester, the Western Cape's first mobile HIV/AIDS testing facility outside his office in Milnerton yesterday.

The clearly proud Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights activist boarded the vehicle for the first time.

‘We need to encourage people. We can defeat HIV, we defeated apartheid after all. The (Tutu Tester) staff are out of this world. I salute and take my hat off to the fantastic people of this country,' Tutu said as he left the brightly coloured vehicle.

The Tutu Tester is the brainchild of Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation chief executive Linda-Gail Bekker.

She said the project started in May last year, and has tested 10,800 people in ‘underserviced communities' in the greater Cape Town area.

Bekker said the vehicle had three rooms used for testing and counseling. The unit also has tents to serve as mini-mobile units.

The team of nurses, counselors and volunteers test for HIV/AIDS, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and tuberculosis.

Tutu is a TB survivor.

Tutu Tester project leader Nienke van Schaik said Tutu as a benefactor and ‘name' behind the unit was a good thing as South Africans trusted the archbishop.

Van Schaik said the response from communities had been ‘phenomenal.'

Tutu himself was tested for HIV/AIDS, and jovially said his health was ‘as good as can be' at 78. ‘I've been very lucky. Sometimes I wish I was younger, especially with all the charming ladies around.'

Jason.warner@inl.co.za

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More coverage includes:

"Tutu learns how to put on condom," The Times, 22 October 2009