Johannesburg - Among the priorities of the Gauteng AIDS strategy is to decentralise anti-retroviral treatment (ART) follow up to local clinics in order to extend HIV and AIDS treatment and monitor results.
Presenting the provincial implementation of the AIDS strategy in Gauteng during the Inter-Parliament Union (IPU) Advisory Group on HIV and AIDS in Gauteng on Saturday, Gauteng Multi sectoral AIDS Unit Director, Dr Liz Floyd said the provincial priorities also include developing community health workers' services, increasing the TB cure rate and extending social support for people living with HIV (PLHIV) coverage.
She said 411 338 people tested for HIV through the voluntary counseling testing (VCT) during 2007 and in 2008 TB treatment was made available in all provincial clinics with a cure rate of 75 percent.
"In November 2008, 63 ART sites with more than 160 982 on treatment and 22 000 clients utilised home based care serviced by non government organisations," Dr Floyd told IPU.
Dr Floyd said infection rates among adults were 18 percent, 30 percent of pregnant women and plus or minus 7 percent of babies.
The provincial goal, she said, is to reduce new infections by 50 percent by 2011 in youth, babies and adults.
The provincial coverage of HIV and AIDS education in wards, schools by community based organisations and non government organisations reaches about 40 percent of the population.
She said the Health Department supplies 10 million condoms in all clinics per month including STI treatment.
"Almost all antenatal clinics, about 98 percent provide the PMTCT service, broader programmes of government address social factors while the CBOs and media address social values," she said, adding that among the priorities was to intensify combination prevention, extend ongoing education and implement the expanded PMTCT policy in 2008.
"We have seen a reduction in new HIV infections in youth under 30 years, increased safe sex behaviours and reduced HIV infections in babies through prevention of mother to child transmission service.
"Over 40 000 children receive regular support through 178 funded NGOs with access to social workers, 40 percent of schools are free and OVC get fee exemption from all schools and 80 000 plus receive free uniforms and more than one million children get social grants whiles poor families access free and subsidised services," Dr Floyd said.
Wits University's Enhancing Children's HIV Outcome Director Dr Harry Moultrie said there was a need to change public's perception that HIV is a youth problem.
The IPU advisory body is a small group of legislators who are leaders in their home parliaments on HIV and AIDS related issues.
The body also provides guidance to the 147 national parliaments that are members of the IPU on the implementation of international commitments on HIV and AIDS.
The site visit to South Africa is the second country visited by the advisory group following last year's visit in Brazil; the group will also visit KwaZulu-Natal while in the country.
