Pretoria - While over three million people in South Africa are on antiretroviral treatment, the country is yet to reduce the rate of HIV transmission, particularly among young women.
“We have continued to expand our HIV treatment programme, with over three million people on antiretroviral treatment. We have reduced mother-to-child transmission further. Yet we are still struggling to reduce rates of transmission, particularly among young women,” said Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He was speaking at the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) plenary at the Protea Hotel in Kempton Park on Saturday.
The last SANAC Plenary was held in Mpumalanga last November with a Lekgotla having been held in June this year.
Deputy President Ramaphosa told the meeting that progress has been made in several areas and that all Tuberculosis indicators are now improving but more still needs to be done.
Budget
National Treasury has commenced a review of the budgets and funding channels of SANAC and the Secretariat with their report expected at the end of the first quarter of 2016.
“Resourcing the AIDS Council Secretariats and civil society organisations at both national and provincial level remains a challenge,” said Deputy President Ramaphosa.
“We need to acknowledge that we have not yet succeeded in finding suitable mechanisms to ensure that civil society formations are adequately resourced and capacitated to do the critical work that is expected of them. We must continue to be seized with this issue.”
He further expects a report on the development of a Private Sector Engagement Strategy to ensure the private sector is more extensively involved in the national AIDS response.
“In the past, the engagement of the private sector in the AIDS response has been fragmented, with the result that its impact has been less than optimal.”
A key recommendation from the strategy is that SANAC needs to strengthen its relationship with private sector leadership and begin to re-engage with business leaders at all levels.
“This, coupled with a strong and relevant communications strategy, will drive a process of continuous engagement with the business sector.
“We will also discuss the South African National Sex Worker HIV Programme, which seeks to address the high rates of prevalence particularly among female sex workers,” he explained.
The issue of strengthening the provincial, district and local AIDS Councils was one of the key resolutions of the SANAC Lekgotla with the Secretariat having undertaken an assessment of Provincial Councils on AIDS to determine the existing capacity and challenges in order to develop a national strategy to strengthen them.
“This is essential work, because the value of SANAC lies in its ability to bring together all stakeholders, across the country, and all communities, to coordinate efforts to combat HIV and Tuberculosis. It is simply not sufficient for SANAC to operate at a national level.”
Much of the work is being done at provincial and local level and it is here, he said, where the most resources are needed and where collaboration is most important.
World Aids Day
The meeting was hosted ahead of World Aids Day which is commemorated on 1 December.
“We hope that this year, we can use World Aids Day to focus attention on the many local projects, programmes and initiatives that are making a real difference in this struggle. We want to salute the many heroes and heroines across this country who are involved in this cause, and to strengthen their resolve and determination,” said the Deputy President.
International AIDS Conference
South Africa will host the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban in July 2016. The conference will bring together scientists, policymakers, world leaders, and people living with HIV to discuss successes and challenges across the world.
“Beyond hosting the conference, we expect that South Africa's contribution to global knowledge on HIV, AIDS and TB will be immense. There is much that others can learn from our experience, just as we stand to benefit from the great congregation of people who will gather there from around the world,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
