President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday, 1 December announced far-reaching changes on how government intends to tackle the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Speaking at an event to commemorate World AIDS Day in Pretoria, Zuma called on South Africans to “stop the politicisation and endless debates about HIV and start working together in unity to prevent HIV infections and to deal with its impact”.
“We know that the situation is serious. We have seen the statistics. We know that the average life expectancy of South Africans has been falling and that South Africans are dying at a young age. We have seen the child-headed and granny-headed households, and have witnessed the pain and displacement of orphans and vulnerable children.
“These facts are undeniable. We should not be tempted to downplay the statistics and impact nor to deny the reality that we face,” said Zuma.
Set to take effect from April next year, Zuma said the changes were aimed at reducing the infant mortality rate and the number of HIV infections.
Some of the changes announced include:
* All children under one year of age will get treatment if they test positive. Treatment will therefore not be determined by the level of the CD cells
* All patients with both TB and HIV will get treatment with anti-retroviral if their CD4 count is 350 or less. At present treatment is available when the CD4 count is less than 200. TB and HIV and AIDS will now be treated under one roof
* All pregnant HIV positive women with a CD4 count of 350 or with symptoms regardless of CD4 count will have access to treatment. At present HIV positive pregnant women are eligible for treatment if their CD4 count is less than 200. All other pregnant women not falling into this category, but who are HIV positive, will be put on treatment at fourteen weeks of pregnancy to protect the baby. In the past this was only started during the last term. And to kick-start a massive testing campaign, Zuma announced that he was planning to take an HIV test.
“In order to meet the need for testing and treatment, we will work to ensure that all health institutions in the country are ready to receive patients and not just a few accredited ARV centres. Any citizen should be able to move into any health centre and ask for counselling, testing and even treatment if needed.
“Institutions are hard at work to ensure that systems are in place by 31 March. What does this all mean? It means we will be treating significantly larger numbers of HIV positive patients. It means that people will live longer and more fulfilling lives,” said Zuma.
A number of speakers at the event, that included United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) Executive Director Dr Michel Sidibe and South African National Aids Council Deputy Chairperson and co-founder of Treatment Action Campaign, Mark Heywood, welcomed the government’s lead in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The event was also attended by Gauteng Premier, Nomvula Mokonyane and the Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, among others.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government
1 December 2009
Source: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.gautengonline.gov.za)
