Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has a secret...but he wants South Africans to know about it.
Before the end of 2021‚ he wants the country to be awarded a special certificate by UNAIDS for totally eliminating mother-to-child HIV infections.
“I am painfully aware that four countries have already got their certificates – Cuba‚ Thailand‚ Moldova and Belarus. After they were announced at the high-level United Nations meeting in June‚ there were whispers in the corridors of power that they expect‚ or wish‚ that on the African continent‚ South Africa would be the first to achieve that certificate.
“So I’ve got this secret ambition to ensure that. Those that are working with me must just know‚” he said.
According to Motsoaledi – who was speaking during the 21st International Aids Conference in Durban on Monday – a lot of headway has already been made.
“We must keep the focus and continue what we’ve been doing across the country. But we must just do it better. What we’ve been doing has reduced mother-to-child transmission from 30% some 10 years ago‚ to the present 1 or 2%‚” he said.
The focus on eliminating it completely would be aimed at the districts where transmissions were most common.
“We focus more on the districts with the highest transmissions and burden of paediatric HIV and Aids. From the data in our possession‚ we know that 60% of new HIV infections in children come from only 27% of the districts in the country‚ from 14 of the 52 districts. If we can concentrate there‚ we are already solving 60% of the problems.
We are quite confident that if we work together...we can win‚” he said.
Earlier‚ United Nations Children’s Fund executive director Anthony Lake‚ praised the country for dealing with mother-to-child infections – but said the battle was not yet won.
Lake said the country should be proud of its growing legacy of lives saved and lives improved. There is “almost universal HIV testing among pregnant women”‚ and there has been a drop of 80% in new infections among children since 2002. On top of this‚ since 2008‚ the rate of mother-to-child infections had dropped from 8% to 1.5%.
“But these achievements are best reflected not in statistics‚ but in the happiest measurement of all: in individual lives‚” said Lake.
However‚ he said it was not enough to stop here.
“These successes also spur us to finish the job; we cannot forget the lives that are still being left behind. That means finishing the job on mother to child transmission‚ providing high quality HIV treatment to all infected women and maintaining that treatment throughout their lives. It means urgently scaling up HIV testing‚ treatment and services‚ especially for adolescents and the most at risk adolescents‚ girls. Above all‚ it means not giving up the fight we began three decades ago.
“Despite our wonderful progress we are still grappling with a disease that needlessly claims hundreds of lives a day – a disease we know how to prevent and how to treat‚” he said.
TMG Digital/Durban Newsroom
The secret ambition Motsoaledi wants us all to know about…
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has a secret...but he wants South Africans to know about it.
Before the end of 2021‚ he wants the country to be awarded a special certificate by UNAIDS for totally eliminating mother-to-child HIV infections.
“I am painfully aware that four countries have already got their certificates – Cuba‚ Thailand‚ Moldova and Belarus. After they were announced at the high-level United Nations meeting in June‚ there were whispers in the corridors of power that they expect‚ or wish‚ that on the African continent‚ South Africa would be the first to achieve that certificate.
“So I’ve got this secret ambition to ensure that. Those that are working with me must just know‚” he said.
According to Motsoaledi – who was speaking during the 21st International Aids Conference in Durban on Monday – a lot of headway has already been made.
“We must keep the focus and continue what we’ve been doing across the country. But we must just do it better. What we’ve been doing has reduced mother-to-child transmission from 30% some 10 years ago‚ to the present 1 or 2%‚” he said.
The focus on eliminating it completely would be aimed at the districts where transmissions were most common.
“We focus more on the districts with the highest transmissions and burden of paediatric HIV and Aids. From the data in our possession‚ we know that 60% of new HIV infections in children come from only 27% of the districts in the country‚ from 14 of the 52 districts. If we can concentrate there‚ we are already solving 60% of the problems.
We are quite confident that if we work together...we can win‚” he said.
Earlier‚ United Nations Children’s Fund executive director Anthony Lake‚ praised the country for dealing with mother-to-child infections – but said the battle was not yet won.
Lake said the country should be proud of its growing legacy of lives saved and lives improved. There is “almost universal HIV testing among pregnant women”‚ and there has been a drop of 80% in new infections among children since 2002. On top of this‚ since 2008‚ the rate of mother-to-child infections had dropped from 8% to 1.5%.
“But these achievements are best reflected not in statistics‚ but in the happiest measurement of all: in individual lives‚” said Lake.
However‚ he said it was not enough to stop here.
“These successes also spur us to finish the job; we cannot forget the lives that are still being left behind. That means finishing the job on mother to child transmission‚ providing high quality HIV treatment to all infected women and maintaining that treatment throughout their lives. It means urgently scaling up HIV testing‚ treatment and services‚ especially for adolescents and the most at risk adolescents‚ girls. Above all‚ it means not giving up the fight we began three decades ago.
“Despite our wonderful progress we are still grappling with a disease that needlessly claims hundreds of lives a day – a disease we know how to prevent and how to treat‚” he said.
TMG Digital/Durban Newsroom
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