SA makes inroads in tackling HIV/Aids

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Pretoria – Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi says when he took office in 2009, HIV and Aids had changed the face of the country and had been placed at the top of the list of the burden of non-communicable diseases in South Africa by Lancet.

Not only did HIV and Aids result in the mortality rate doubling, but it also had an impact on increasing the incidences of cancers, tuberculosis, maternal deaths and mental health disorders, among others.

“We are convinced more than ever before that our strategy to start tackling HIV and Aids is paying off in this country ... Here is a disease, one single disease that completely changed life as we used to know it. I believe everybody is aware of that,” said the minister at a post-State of the Nation Address media briefing in Cape Town on Tuesday.

He was responding to a question on why the department had placed such an emphasis on HIV and Aids to the possible disadvantage of other healthcare issues in the country.

Motsoaledi said the mortality rate in South Africa doubled between 2006 and 2007 from 300 000 to 612 000 – this was comparable to a country at war. “[Only] in war would you double your death rate [in that manner]… HIV was the driving factor in doubling the death rate in our country,” he said.

He said at the time municipalities were forced to cremate bodies because they had run out of space in graveyards, and villages which had been using the same graveyard for 50 years suddenly had to open new ones.

In the Gert Sibande District in Mpumalanga, which had the second highest HIV rate in the country, it became a lucrative business to open a funeral home.

“Many villages were characterised by that. We had hospitals which were full and hospices were opened all over [the country].”

Motsoaledi added that HIV and Aids had caused a battle against maternal mortality, which was now being reversed.

“Forty-nine percent of all maternal deaths in South Africa are attributable to HIV and Aids - that’s very high. That’s one disease being responsible for 49 percent of the women who die in pregnancy and childbirth.”

The child mortality rate – or children who die by the age of five – was at 35 percent because of HIV and Aids.

Also, women who are HIV-positive are five times more likely to get cancer of the cervix or uterus – which is the second most common form of cancer among South African women.

“A lot of cancers … diseases like leprosy and TB, which we thought had been defeated, came back because of HIV and Aids.

“The number of children who were born HIV positive by 2004 was 70 000. Today, that number has decreased to 8 600 – but it used to be 70 000 before we started doing anything. And if they have to go for treatment, it would be for life.”

Motsoaledi said 43 percent of people who are HIV-positive developed mental health problems.

He said the statistics were mind-boggling.

“I had to spend a considerable time of my life from 2009 dealing with these issues. I had to go and concentrate on turning this disease backwards. I think we have been successful in doing so … We have stabilised the area of HIV and we are on the correct course,” said the minister.

He said the President had last week announced that government would increase the number of people on HIV treatment from 2.4 million to 4.6 million.

“We have circumcised one million men – we are now going to quadruple it and circumcise four million men by 2016,” said the minister.

He added that the department had undertaken a campaign to reduce the mother-to-child transmission of HIV. “It is now markedly low at 2.7%. At one stage, it was 8%. We want it to go below 1% or if possible 0%.” – SAnews.gov.za