Pretoria – South Africans will on World Aids Day be encouraged to know their status by getting tested, to follow the “ABC” principles of abstaining, being faithful and condomising and for males to get medically circumcised.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe will on Sunday, 1 December, lead the main World Aids Day commemoration event in Emahhashini, Piet Retief in Mpumalanga.
Government hopes to move to the next phase of conquering HIV and Aids by achieving zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero Aids-related deaths.
This year’s event will be observed under the theme: “Get Wise, Get Tested, Get Circumcised”.
World Aids Day is held each year as an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show their support for people living with HIV and to reflect back on the strides taken in the multi-sectoral HIV, Aids and TB response.
Currently, South Africa has one of the largest HIV and Aids treatment programmes with 2.4 million people on treatment.
Through these programmes, the country has seen huge gains including continuous reductions in the rate of HIV transmission from mother to child and the successful counselling and testing of 20 million people for HIV. – SAnews.gov.za
