Issued by Ministry of Health
14 August 2006
Health Minister, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang officially opened the South African Government exhibition stand at the 16th International AIDS Conference which started in Toronto, Canada yesterday (August 13).
South Africa has arguably, the biggest and most comprehensive programme on HIV and AIDS and the stand reflects the variety of interventions being made with Comprehensive Plan for Management, Care and Treatment of HIV and AIDS in South Africa. On display are:
Minister Tshabalala-Msimang is part of a high level South African delegation to the conference which includes Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya, Correctional Services Deputy Minister Loretta Jacobus and at least four
provincial MECs (Health MEC Sakhiwo Balot and Eduation MEC Mantsheng Tsopo both from Free State, Eastern Cape Health MEC Nomsa Jajula and Western Cape Health MEC Pierre Uys).
The conference is being held under a theme: Time to Deliver.
Speaking at the official opening of the stand, Minister Tshabalala-Msimang said it was time for the world to deliver on the global commitments made towards addressing poverty and underdevelopment and work towards universal access to HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment programmes by 2010.
"The international community has made various commitments encompassed in the Millennium Development Goals and other global resolutions to address the challenges of poverty and support development efforts in poor regions of the world. The time has come for the long-standing commitments such as debt relief, fair global trade environment and the pledge by the OECD Member States to commit 0.7% of gross national income for official development assistance to be fulfilled. It is time to deliver," said Minister Tshabalala-Msimang.
She said progress in the implementation of these resolutions will significantly boost the ability to meet the commitments made at United Nations High Level meeting on HIV and AIDS held in New York in May this year. UNAIDS estimates that between 20 and 23 billion US dollars is needed annually to attain commitment made in New York with regard to universal access to prevention, care and treatment by 2010 particularly in low-and middle-income countries.
Minister Tshabalala-Msimang urged the Toronto Conference not to forget that the New York meeting also acknowledged the social determinants of health as crucial in addressing the challenge of the spread of HIV infection and impact of AIDS.
"These are issues that were highlighted by our President, President Thabo Mbeki during his address to this conference in Durban six years ago. He urged us to not only address HIV and AIDS as a medical problem but also deal with the underlying factors such as poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, gender inequality and illiteracy," said Minister Tshabalala-Msimang.
"Because we are convinced of the urgent need to intensify delivery, we have tripled the budget allocation for the Comprehensive Plan on HIV and AIDS over the last four years from just over R1 billion in 2002 to R3.5 billion in 2005," said Minister Tshabalala-Msimang.
The plan emphasises prevention interventions which have led to a very high level of awareness about HIV and AIDS amongst South Africans ranging between 92-98%. Government distributes free high quality condoms. Male condom distribution was at 346 million in 2004 and female condom distribution doubled from 1,3 in 2003 to 2,6 million in 2004 and is expected to increase to 3 million this year.
The Report on the National HIV and Syphilis Antenatal Sero-prevalence Survey released last month indicates that HIV prevalence rates for 2004 and 2005 are very similar (estimated at 5,5million).
"The prevalence profile continues to confirm the expectation and projections of numerous groups whose models suggest that South Africa will begin to see a decline in the prevalence profile. The studies conducted over the years show that intervention programmes, which emphasise prevention, have a very important role in moderating HIV prevalence and the epidemiology of HIV infections in general," said Minister Tshabalala-Msimang.
She urged the conference to pay particular attention to issues of prevention especially since this year has been declared the year of accelerated prevention by the African region of the World Health Organisation.
Reporting on the progress in SA response to HIV and AIDS, Minister Tshabalala-Msimang said 89% of public health facilities were providing voluntary counselling and HIV testing services.
Government provides a number of interventions to delay the progression from HIV infection to development of AIDS defining illnesses and to maintain optimal health for people living with HIV and AIDS. This includes Healthy Lifestyle awareness campaign which encourages regular physical activity and nutritious diet particularly vegetables and fruits. At least 374 000 people have also benefited from the provision of nutritional supplementation by Government.
Most of the vulnerable children are receiving social support and have free access to health services and education.
Rigorous treatment of opportunistic infections is available in most of health facilities. Government is also encouraging research and development of African traditional medicines that are effective in alleviating symptoms associated with HIV and AIDS by boosting the immune system.
A tender to the value of R3,4 billion is in place for procurement of antiretroviral drugs for the period to the end of 2007. All 53 districts and 72% of local municipalities in the country have accredited service points for providing antiretroviral therapy.
"There are indeed challenges which we are continuously trying to address particularly with regard to monitoring and evaluation of our programmes. We are making efforts to expand this programme to record patients that have exited the programme, adherence and adverse events. There is also a need to work with both non-profit and for-profit private sectors to ensure the harmonisation of indicators," said Minister Tshabalala-Msimang.
South African delegation will use this conference to learn from presentations on the interventions and research advances being made in various parts of the world and share SA's experiences in addressing HIV and AIDS.
"We hope this exhibition will assist in highlighting the progress we are making towards curbing the spread of HIV infection and reducing the impact of AIDS in our society. We have tried to ensure that this exhibition represents the series of interventions being made in addressing HIV and AIDS - from prevention, care and support which includes good nutrition as well as treatment programmes," said Minister Tshabalala-Msimang.
Contact: Sibani Mngadi
Spokesperson for the Minister of Health
Mobile number: +27827720161