Programme Director,
Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi,
Acting Premier of Free State,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
MECs and Mayors,
United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr Gana Fofang and Representatives of development partner organisations,
SANAC Deputy Chairperson, Ms Mmapaseka Letsike,
Ladies and gentlemen,
We gather here on World AIDS Day to reaffirm our determination to work together to overcome this global epidemic.
We remind ourselves of the devastating effect that AIDS has had on communities and societies.
We recall the progress we have made, but we also acknowledge the great effort that still lies ahead.
Our experience tells us that we cannot hope to succeed in our efforts unless we work together. When we are divided, we flounder.
We therefore need to place greater emphasis on community engagement and dialogue.
Earlier today, I had the opportunity to participate in a session where community members shared experiences and insights. They offered solutions to the challenge of stigma and discrimination.
This experience drove home the message that to make progress, we need to place community voices at the centre of our response.
We need to do more to involve, capacitate and support civil society.
Despite the advances we have made in the fight against HIV and AIDS, stigma and discrimination still persist.
This can have a devastating effect on the lives of people living with HIV and on those closest to them.
It also undermines our efforts to tackle the epidemic. People are reluctant to test for HIV, to disclose their status, or to access treatment, care and support.
This World AIDS Day, let us redouble our efforts, wherever we may find ourselves, to fight against prejudice, stigma and discrimination directed at those infected and affected by HIV.
Like racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of intolerance, the stigmatisation of HIV is driven by ignorance and fear.
We need to work overcome ignorance and address fear.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As we mark World AIDS Day, we should reflect on what progress is being made in responding to the dual epidemics of HIV and TB.
We assess the impact of our response so that we can identify what challenges, gaps and systemic issues we must confront in order to meet our objectives.
We expect the upcoming mid-term review of the National Strategic Plan on HIV, TB and Sexually Transmitted Infections 2012-2016 to provide detailed insights into the work we still need to do.
The task is huge. South Africa has the largest prevalence of HIV in the world.
Our country has more than 6.4 million people living with HIV.
We have about 400,000 new HIV infections each year.
The social and economic cost of AIDS is enormous.
It has decreased life expectancy and, consequently, increased our mortality rates. It has placed the health and social services under strain, affecting our families, communities, schools, workplaces, places of worship and institutions of higher learning.
Most of all, it has affected millions of families and thousands of communities throughout the country.
Yet, we have not stood still in the face of this crisis.
The number of people on treatment has steadily grown over the last 10 years. Today we have 2.7 million South Africans initiated on antiretroviral treatment.
Life expectancy increased from 53 years in 2006 to 61 years in 2012.
HIV associated deaths in pregnant women, infants and children under five have also declined.
We have also seen a decline in new HIV infections since its peak in 2004.
The incidence of HIV decreased from 1.79% in 2008 to 1.47% in 2012.
Despite this decline we continue to have a significant number of new HIV infections every day.
One quarter of these new infections are in young women between the ages of 15 and 24.
Therefore we have to do much more to promote prevention.
Unlike many other communicable diseases, HIV prevention is very much within the power of the individual.
Everyone, especially young people, should use condoms consistently, stick to one sexual partner and delay the age at which they first have sex.
Government, civil society, NGOs and the private sector need to do much more to educate, create awareness and promote this message.
All leaders - whether in government, the religious sector, traditional leadership or business - need to speak about safer sex practices.
We are concerned about the number of South Africans who do not know their HIV status.
We had a very successful HIV counselling and testing campaign in 2010. In a period of 20 months we were able to test 20 million people.
However, this has to be a continuous process.
A recent survey estimated that 2 million South Africans who are living with HIV do not know their status.
Without this essential information, it is not possible for these individuals to seek medical help or to act appropriately to protect their partners from becoming infected.
We must ensure that every South African tests for HIV and is screened for TB annually.
We have prioritised offenders in our correctional facilities and mineworkers in our fight against the dual epidemics of TB and HIV.
With high levels of TB and HIV in these two groups, we successfully applied for funding from the Global Fund to expand our services for these two groups.
In the next two years we will use the $54 million to:
- improve TB and HIV services to 500,000 mineworkers and 600,000 people living in 6 peri-mining communities;
- strengthen services in correctional facilities in all 48 correctional services management areas;
- strengthen multi-drug resistance TB services in all 52 health districts.
Despite the progress that we have made in the past 5 years, the end of AIDS is not as near as we would like.
At the International AIDS conference in Melbourne, Australia earlier this year, UNAIDS announced global targets that will move us closer to the end of AIDS.
These are the 90, 90, 90 targets.
This means we need to test 90% of South Africans for HIV, initiate 90% of those that are HIV positive on treatment, and ensure that 90% of those on treatment are virally suppressed by 2030.
As a recent detailed analysis that we undertook has shown, reaching these ambitious targets is affordable over the mid-term.
The same analysis has also pointed to a number of ways in which we can spend our money better, by ensuring that everyone gets tested for HIV, uses condoms all the time, and gets onto treatment as soon as needed. We also need to encourage as many men as possible to undergo circumcision.
One of the major barriers to achieving these targets, however, is the stigma that still exists in South Africa and other parts of the world.
Stigma is the prejudice, exclusion and isolation of an individual by another or by a group.
It is irrational. It is hurtful. It is unacceptable.
While HIV has had an unprecedented impact on global health, it is like any other disease. There should be no shame and no blame.
This is not the first time we have had to confront discrimination.
South Africans have fought against discrimination for over three centuries.
We overcame a system of institutionalised racism, a system described by the world as a crime against humanity. We set our country on a path towards a non-racial future.
We can do the same with HIV.
The South African National Aids Council (SANAC) Secretariat, working with the sector of People Living HIV and the Human Sciences Research Council, is conducting a survey to gauge the levels and identify the forms of stigma in South Africa.
While we know that stigma exists in South Africa, the survey will help us understand it better and identify areas for intervention.
In South Africa, as is the case around the world, HIV and AIDS is a source of social concern, personal anxiety and economic impairment.
Yet it has also been a source of courage, fortitude and hope.
Today, we are honoured to have among us some people who became infected with HIV and experienced different forms of stigma.
These people have bravely availed themselves to speak out against discrimination on World AIDS Day 2014.
Their stories are being broadcast on TV and radio and shown in taxis and shopping malls. The video clips will reach thousands of people on Facebook and Twitter and will be shown at UN agencies throughout the world.
It is now my honour to read out the names of these eight very special individuals who have volunteered their stories to advance the campaign for Zero Stigma and Zero Discrimination.
Please join me in thanking Koketso, Cindy, Mmabatho, Phindile, Nomasomi, Mongezi, Simphiwe and Yvette for championing this important cause.
Fellow South Africans, it is almost one year since the passing of our founding President Nelson Mandela.
Madiba dedicated his life to the struggle against discrimination in all forms and manifestations.
He campaigned for the recognition of the rights of people infected with HIV. He broke down the walls of ignorance and fear.
We need to honour his legacy by breaking our silence.
We need to say no to stigma and discrimination.
We need to embrace our common humanity, our diversity and our unique – and equally valid - identities.
Let us honour the memory of those who have lost their lives because of the violent prejudice of the few. Let us carry forward their aspirations to be recognised, respected and valued.
We have overcome before. We can do so again.
I thank you.
