By Nthambeleni Gabara
New York - South Africa’s first lady, Thobeka Madiba-Zuma, who is in New York for the United Nation General Assembly 70th session, will use the opportunity to promote women’s health.
Madiba-Zuma will use the platform of the UNGA to conduct high-level advocacy on two issues relevant to the women’s health agenda namely cancer, especially cervical and breast cancer, and HIV prevention and treatment.
“The only way we are going to address women’s sexual and reproductive health including cervical and breast cancer, HIV and Aids and TB, is to ensure that policies, programmes and services are integrated.
“When a woman visits a health care provider, whether it is a GP or a nurse at a clinic, she should be treated as a whole person with a range of health needs.
“It is my responsibility to the people of South Africa to ensure that women’s sexual and reproductive health is kept high on the national and global agenda,” she said.
Breast and cervical cancer are the two leading cancers that are affecting women hard in South Africa.
About 82% of deaths due to cancer occur in developing countries where access to prevention services such as education, the HPV vaccination and lifesaving pre-cancer screening and early treatment is limited.
There is a link between HIV infection and cervical cancer, in that cervical cancer is four to five times more common in women living with HIV than those who are not.
The first lady will use the global stage provided by the UNGA to advocate for adequate diagnosis and access to treatment for women with cervical and breast cancer in South Africa.
Madiba-Zuma will participate actively on the sidelines of the UNGA in meetings such as “Putting Cancer on the Global Agenda: The Time to Act Now”, on 27 September 2015 and the Organization of First Ladies Against HIV and Aids (OAFLA) roundtable event, “Building on MDGs to invest in the Post 2015 Development Agenda”, with a focus on adolescent and young people’s health, on 28 September 2015.
SA’s progress in HIV programme
Two major achievements in recent years is that South Africa has the biggest HIV treatment programme in the world and has managed to reduce significantly the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV at six weeks from 8% in 2008 to 2.6% in 2013.
Currently, though, adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 10 and 24 are being left behind by the national Aids response.
Madiba-Zuma will advocate for strategic, yet innovative and flexible strategies for adolescent girls and young women with regard to HIV prevention and treatment, with a clear link to sexual and reproductive health.
The first lady, who is the founder and patron of the Thobeka Madiba-Zuma Foundation, works locally and globally with partners to advance the agenda on breast and cervical cancer, HIV and TB. She also supports a number of existing projects and interventions that focus on these issues.
UNGA70
This year’s UN General Assembly is historic in two ways, in that it marks the 70th anniversary of the UN and will also see the ushering of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the adoption of new global goals.
This weekend, more than 150 world leaders are expected to attend the UN Sustainable Development Summit at UN Headquarters, in New York, to formally adopt an ambitious new sustainable development agenda, in the form of 17 new global goals.
This momentous agenda will serve as the platform for action by the international community and by national governments to promote shared prosperity and well-being for the next 15 years. - SAnews.gov.za
