President Zuma must announce new strategy to tackle HIV/AIDS infections
According to a study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), in 2012, it is estimated that 12.2% of the population (6.4 million persons) were HIV positive, which is 1.2 million more than in 2008 (10.6%, or 5.2 million). The study also indicated that 469 000 new HIV infections occurred in the population 2 years and older during the year 2012 in South Africa.
While the roll-out of anti-retrovirals has been successful and deserving of praise, an additional strategy is needed if we are going to win the war against HIV/AIDS, once and for all.
The DA therefore calls on President Zuma to put politics aside and utilise best practise methods to ensure the fight against HIV/AIDS is won without unnecessary lives being lost.
This must, in particular, include addressing behavioural patterns, which is the driving force behind high HIV rates.
The DA-led Western Cape Government has been developing a range of interventions in partnership with Ideas42, a behavioural economic think tank based at Harvard University, that are aimed at achieving the behaviour change we need to reduce the incidence of HIV/Aids in the province.
One of the findings of the HSRC's study was that there was a rise in multiple sex partners for both genders aged between 15-49 and that more females than before were having sex with men who were much older than them. It is estimated that the high prevalence of sexual relationships between young women and older men is one of the main reasons why an a large percentage of schoolgirls across the country are HIV positive and falling pregnant every year.
If we hope to reverse this trend we need to create a serious stigma around multiple concurrent inter-generational partners and coercive sex.
That is why the Western Cape Government recently rolled out a number of radio adverts on radio stations across the province, which educated young girls about the risks of sleeping with older men and called on communities to partner with the provincial government to stop sugar daddies having sex with young females. It plans to introduce other interventions in this regard in the coming months.
The provincial government has also focused in the past on incentivising people to get tested so that they know their HIV status and to practice safe sex if they are HIV positive. Recently, the South Africa Institute of Race Relations study found that the province had the highest condom distribution rate in the country.
All these interventions are aimed at decreasing the province's nearly 8% HIV prevalence rate, which is still the lowest in the country when compared to other provinces. The Western Cape also has the lowest mother-to-child HIV transmission rate.
The DA's Health policy acknowledges that prevention is better than cure. As such our policy states that to assist in the fight against HIV/AIDS, we need to continue and accelerate education programmes related to HIV/AIDS and general health issues. Our policy also looks at modernising the health system and using information technology to bring about systemic improvements - including improvements to the system of procuring and distributing medicines. This will help to prevent ARV shortages at health facilities.
President Zuma would do well to spend more time looking at ways to drive down actual infections, instead of waxing lyrical about a good story many have yet to experience.
We will do everything possible to make sure this happens.
Statement issued by Patricia Kopane MP, DA Shadow Minister of Health, April 2 2014
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