SA’s fight against HIV/Aids wins donor support
The Global Fund as well as the US have pledged to assist the country in eradicating the epidemic.
THE Department of Health’s campaign for an Aids-free Generation by 2030 was in the spotlight during this week’s International Aids Conference. The country’s ‘accelerated response’ to the epidemic has secured a pledge of donor support from The Global Fund as well as the United States of America, the department revealed in a statement.
On Wednesday South Africa’s Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi highlighted some of the country’s notable HIV/AIDS interventions in the fight against HIV/AIDS. One of the interventions cited by the minister includes the improved provision of ARV treatment to HIV positive patients.
Motsoaledi noted that over the last 12 years the country had increased ARV treatments from 400 000 to over 3.4 million. He said the country now ran the largest HIV treatment programme in the world, with more than 12 million people tested in 2015.
Referring to these achievements, United States Global Aids Coordinator Deborah Birx said, “This is not the time to withdraw HIV/AIDS funding from South Africa. It is a time to support the country in the fight against this pandemic.”
What’s more, Motsoaledi said South Africa had also significantly reduced the cost of ARV drugs from approximately R10 000 per person per year to around R1 728 per person per yer.
On Tuesday the city of Durban also announced the construction project for the province’s first condom factory at the Dube TradePort.
