Issued by Ministry of Health
31 May 2006
South African delegation to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS is pleased that prevention is reassuming its central position in the global discussions on HIV and AIDS, says the Minister of Health Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
Minister Tshabalala-Msimang was speaking at a roundtable discussion which forms part of the UNGASS in New York today.
Minister Tshabalala-Msimang went on to urge the UNGASS not to reinvent the wheel but build from the commitments we made through adoption of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS in 2001.
"The 2001 Declaration acknowledges prevention as the mainstay of the response and goes further to recognize that poverty, underdevelopment and illiteracy are among the principal contributing factors to the spread of HIV.
"We need to deal with obstacles undermining the global efforts to reach the targets. Many of these issues have been discussed in the build up to this meeting. They include sustainable financing of HIV and AIDS programmes, overcoming stigma and discrimination, feminisation of HIV and AIDS and health systems challenges including shortage of health workers," said Minister Minister Tshabalala-Msimang.
She said comparative advantages of civil society structures to reach out to their constituencies should be effectively utilized to enhance national response and therefore more engagement between governments and civil society should be encouraged.
Contact: Sibani Mngadi @ 0827720161