HIV/Aids: there is a long way to go

As the world marked International Aids Day on Sunday, the health sector in South Africa was, quite correctly, upbeat about the progress which has been made here in treating the HIV/Aids pandemic.

The treatment programme in this country is, according to Deputy President David Mabuza, the biggest in the world … but this is to be expected, given that SA has the largest number of people living with HIV on the planet – 7.7 million out of the global 37.9 million who are affected.

SA’s antiretroviral (ARV) and other treatment programmes are being rolled out to 4.5 million people, according to official figures, which means there is still some way to go in meeting the need for treatment.

There are also some worrying aspects about the disease in this country, including the fact that, despite the widespread campaigns about HIV and safe sex, there were, nevertheless, still 240,000 new infections here last year.

A disproportionately high number of young women – between the ages of 15 and 24 – are affected and researchers say that one in four new HIV infections through sexual contact is as a result of rape.

Yet, despite this, government says it is confident that the National HIV Plan will meet the 90-90-90 targets set by United Nations Aids organisation Unaids by the end of next year. This means that 90% of all people living with HIV will know their status, 90% of those diagnosed will received sustained ARV treatment and 90% of all people on ARV treatment will achieve viral suppression, which greatly decrease transmission of the virus.

However, while assessing the current state of the programme, don’t forget the hundreds of thousands who died of Aids while the government of Thabo Mbeki held up the ARV programme.

Let’s not forget the trauma of their families, either.

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