Mahlodi Maphakela

Sr Mahlodi Maphakela
SAACHS - National Secretary
Clinical Nurse Practitioner, University of Limpopo

Mahlodi P. Maphakela is a dedicated Clinical Nurse Practitioner with 22 years of experience in Primary Health Care, student wellness, and public health advocacy. She provides comprehensive patient care through assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up, while playing a key role in HIV/AIDS, TB and STI programmes at the University of Limpopo.

Mahlodi serves as the Focal Person and Ambassador for the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Programme, where she leads prevention initiatives, coordinates survivor support, and develops GBV-related policies and guidelines for the Health and Wellness Centre. She is also actively involved in health promotion, peer education, and stakeholder referrals to enhance student and staff wellbeing.
Her qualifications include Diploma in General Nursing, Psychiatry, Community and Midwifery; B-Tech in Occupational Health and Nursing Administration; PGD in Health Promotion; Master of Public Health.

Her academic contributions include serving as Research Coordinator for the Department of Public Health (2021–2023) and as a Member of the University Council. She has presented nationally, co-supervised MPH students, and participated in international research projects. Mahlodi is also a published author and co-author, with recent work appearing in Curationis (2023), Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health (2025) and Springer Nature (2025) Journals. Currently she is studying towards a PhD degree at Sefako Makgatho University and is honoured to present her research study in this platform. 

Synopsis

This session unveils an innovative educational intervention developed to enhance PrEP uptake among Limpopo university students.

Delegates will leave with actionable methods to strengthen youth-focused HIV prevention initiatives.