Today marks a very important milestone in our country's response to the twin epidemics of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Tuberculosis (TB) and the attendant social drivers of these pandemics.
2011 has been a critical year globally and nationally for a number of reasons.
Firstly, this year marked the 30th anniversary of the discovery of the HIV, the virus that has plagued the entire world since it was discovered.
During this notable year, the global community and the United Nations convened a High Level meeting where the international community reaffirmed its determination to do everything humanly possible to significantly mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
This determination included to the critical need to reduce the number of new infections and, most importantly, to invest resources in the efforts of the scientific community to develop a vaccine or any other novel technologies to control and arrest the spread of HIV.
These global events have given us impetus as a nation, something which we appreciate.
I would like to point out that we have also made significant progress in our response over the last few years and I am sure that in his address the President will highlight some of these.
I will therefore focus my remarks on the role of partnerships and collaboration in the face of these national challenges.
In particular, I would like to acknowledge the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) and all its structures, including the provincial councils, as well as district councils and the local structures who all contributed to the development of the new National Strategic Plan for HIV/TB/STIs.
Our civil society sectors worked hard to ensure that the people's voices are captured and reflected in this new plan.
Government departments both nationally and provincially worked closely with other stakeholders in identifying some of the issues that require attention in the short, medium and long term.
I would like to also acknowledge the tremendous support we received from the development partners who all responded to our requests for support and provided technical, financial and human resources to SANAC and its structures throughout this process.
I am confident that our partners will also continue to support us in the development of implementation plans and in their execution.
To all those who headed the call to submit inputs through the various channels, thank you for taking time to ensure that our new plan reflects the ongoing engagement of our people with one of the biggest challenges confronting our young democracy.
On behalf of government, I would like to affirm our commitment to a multisectoral response through the South African National AIDS Council and its provincial, district and local structures.
We are committed to strengthening the ability of SANAC to discharge its mandate. Government is a critical stakeholder in SANAC and a custodian of the health and well-being of the citizens of this country.
In this regard, we will also review how we can work efficiently and effectively to ensure that HIV/TB are indeed addressed as development issues.
We will strengthen our ability to integrate our work and to mainstream HIV/TB into the core mandates of key departments and work closely to build capacity in those departments who have yet to embrace this concept of mainstreaming HIV and TB in its gender and human rights dimensions.
I alluded to the progress we have made in our response; today is a day on which we must acknowledge and celebrate these successes.
Holding these memories close to our hearts will sustain our determination to as we strive for the elimination of the TB and HIV epidemics.
The journey is likely to bring out more challenges but I am certain that our commitment to taking responsibility as South Africans will help us triumph over these adversities.
We have already taken the first steps on this path in a collaborative and consultative way; let us continue on this path in the same spirit of partnership and debate.
Let us commit to resolving our differences through robust and frank dialogue and continue to appreciate the role of government and its leadership role.
