Programme director
MEC for Health and Social Development
Other MECs present here
Director General and other Heads of Department
Executive Mayors of Sekhukhune cde Shoes Magabe and other Executive Mayors
Mayors present here
Traditional leaders
Leaders of the Religious Community
HIV and AIDS activists
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Today the international community is observing the World AIDS Day. From all walks of life members of the global village have converged at various parts of the world to pay tribute to people who have fallen victim to the HI virus, whilst at the same time consolidating on the campaigns to curb the spread of the virus. We have an obligation to map out and implement concrete programmes which are aimed at reducing and ultimately halting the spread of HIV in our communities.
It is important and also encouraging to realise that we have emerged from the era of scientific and political discussions on the issue of HIV and AIDS to a new promising period of assembling and implementing policies which assist our people to understand and accept the existence of the virus and its unbearable consequences. We have closed the chapter of spending time and resources in the court rooms trying to prove who had a legitimate case. We have passed the chapter of pointing figures at each other, while our people were dying.
We knew that our differences had reached the maximum point but yet did little to address the situation. That left the victims more vulnerable and dislocated. It is important to reflect on some of these issues because the story of our country and how we responded to the issue of the virus will remain in the thoughts and memories of many people. We must emphasis that as government, we have documented our experience in this regard and we are using such experience to double our efforts in the fight against the virus.
We have lost many people to the virus to the extent that counting is very difficult if not impossible. The lives of many people with a lot of potential were shortened by the virus. It has been difficult for government to address the issue of the shortage of skills in the country, in the midst of losing skilled personnel to the disease. We have indicated on numerous occasions that the success of our economic growth path largely depends on skilled people.
Our economic development can only be propelled forward by people with necessary expertise. And in the event we lose such people then it means our planning will be interrupted. Last year President Jacob Zuma ushered a new chapter in our approach to the pandemic under the theme: “I am responsible, we are responsible, South Africa is taking responsibility.”
The theme provided the impetus to South Africans and revived confidence amongst people that the government was taking the lead in the fight against the virus. At the bedrock of the theme was the call to South Africans to take responsibility for their health and wellbeing. This year, we are furthering the message of our previous campaign under the theme: “We are responsible.”
Once again, all South Africans are called upon to take a further step forward in the voyage of being responsible. Lessons of our own history tell us that we always achieve more when acting as a collective. It is on this note that we are urging people to act jointly in furthering the offensive against the spread of the virus by ensuring that we support and influence people within our sphere of influence to reduce risky sexual behavior in order to prevent the spread of HIV.
We must continue to test and also influence others to test for HIV and TB as a routine way of ensuring that new infections are reduced. We must commence frank and open dialogues in our homes, communities, workplaces and churches about the virus and how it must be prevented. We must intensify the HIV Counseling and Testing Campaign. We should continue to reach many people in our HIV Counseling and Testing Campaign and the ART expansion programmes.
We are determined to get more than 15 million people tested by June 2011 throughout the country of which our provincial target is more than 1,5 million people. We are impressed with the positive response from the public to the campaign and we urge every person to stand up and be tested. We have registered significant strides in increasing the number of facilities which are providing comprehensive HIV service in the province.
We are confident that all the remaining facilities will be upgraded to offer the HIV service as part of consolidating our offensive against the virus. We have succeeded in capacitating all our healthcare facilities that render antenatal care to provide Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission service.
As part of prevention mechanisms we are continuing with the distribution of condoms to communities in Limpopo and we are making a humble plea to the people to use condoms. We are still urging people to remain faithful and avoid multiple of partners. Young people are discouraged from venturing into early sexual activity. The expansion of the ART programme is restricted by lack of human resource.
The process of training nurses to aid in this regard is continuing and we are convinced that this intervention will produce positive results. We have more that 77 000 people presently on ARV treatment in the province and we have more than 80% survival rate on treatment in a year.
As community members we must refrain from discriminating against others on the account of their HIV status. Instead, we must support and offer aid to the victims of HIV and discard any action that discriminates against them.
HIV prevalence from antenatal surveys has consistently shown the prevalence of 20% to 21%. In the 2009 survey, the prevalence was 21. Four percent, whereas in 2008 it was 20.7%. Our province is the third lowest in HIV prevalence in the county. The new infections rate has declined from 1.1% in 2008 to 1.0% in 2009. The 2009 survey shows an insignificant decrease of prevalence of HIV in the ages of less than 20 years which is 0.6% and a significant decline in the ages between 20 and 24 years, however between the ages 30 to 34 have shown an increase.
Programme director,
The improvement and expansion of health care facilities to address the issue of healthcare provision in the province will continue as promised. We are committed to the realisation of our efforts to improve the living conditions of the people of Limpopo. The importance of building healthcare facilities in the rural parts of the province cannot be overemphasised. At the center of our Comprehensive Rural Development Plan is the infrastructure improvement and expansion which encompasses health care facilities.
We must improve our capacity to produce more medical practitioners in order to address the issue of health care in the province. We should not only produce doctors and nurses, but we must produce patriotic doctors and nurses who are prepared and ready to work in the rural areas of the province. As government we have a responsibility to create a conducive environment for medical practitioners to discharge their functions without compromising the inherent dignity which is associated with their profession.
We must do everything possible to retain the number of our doctors and nurses and encourage them to remain committed and loyal to the people of South Africa by resisting temptations that may lead them to leaving the country. We would like to seize this opportunity and pay a special tribute to all doctors and nurses who continue to make a meaningful difference in the life of our people and who always travel an extra distance to save the lives of our people.
In most instances, these courageous South Africans put their lives in danger in order to save other people’s lives. In the same spirit, we humbly take this opportunity also to express our message of appreciation to the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that take care of people living with HIV.
The role that is played by these structures in building hope and confidence in the HIV and AIDS victims is enormous and unparalleled. As government, we will continue to partner with these formations, including those that take care of orphans and other children who are destitute owing to the effects of the virus.
Lets’ all live a healthy life style and be motivated by the desire to live a long life.
Working together, we can do more!
Thank you!
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government
