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1 December 2008

Programme director
MECs here present
My colleague the MEC for Health and Social Development
Executive Mayor of Capricorn District Municipality
Mayor of Blouberg Local Municipality
People Living with HIV and AIDS
Representatives from other organisations and government departments,
Professionals and specialists in the health field,
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Theme: "Stop HIV and AIDS: Lead and Unite"

We are greatly honoured to once more take part in the proceedings of yet another World AIDS day event –which remains an important landmark in our fight against the scourge of HIV and AIDS. World AIDS day was first observed as a commemorative day on 1 December 1988 when Health Ministers from all over the world met under the auspices of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and agreed on the need to pay special attention and solidarity to the global fight against HIV and AIDS. This year marks the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS day, making it one of the longest running international health commemorative days in the calendar of the United Nations.

Traditionally and historically, we would also know that this day also takes place against the backdrop of yet another important week on our calendar, which is the commemoration of the campaign of 16 Days of No Violence against Women and Child Abuse. In our country, World AIDS day also takes place shortly after we have just commemorated the first decade of the Partnership against AIDS, which was first launched in 1998 by our then former Deputy President comrade Thabo Mbeki.

* The theme for this year's World AIDS day emphasises the need to strengthen leadership, commitment and accountability in response to the spread of HIV and AIDS. At the heart of this theme is the need to remind all partners to keep the promises and pledges, which we have made to fight AIDS in the past fourteen years since our country's democracy.

We believe that the time has now come for everyone of us to strive for maximum unity and collaboration, if our efforts will have to count in stopping the stigma and the spread of new infections amongst our people. At the same time this does not take away the personal responsibility and power which all of us have if we want to change the patterns of transmission and the impact of HIV and AIDS.

* Whilst the HIV and AIDS prevalence in the province is far below the national average of 28%, and is also on the decline from 21,5% in 2005 to 18,5% in 2007, we still believe that our work would continue to be made difficult by the increase in the rate of new infections, in some parts of the province.

* Whilst there have always been signs of stability in the prevalence rate in the province and nationally, of concern to us, are some districts within the province which have showed an increase in HIV prevalence from 2006 to 2007. The Vhembe District in particular, even though it has one of the lower rates compared to other Districts, is showing signs of gradual increase in the number of new cases (i.e. In 2006 it stood at 14,1 % and now is at around 15,2%).

This picture could be very ugly, if we consider that the estimates of HIV prevalence are exclusively based on surveillance among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics, which means that there may very well be many other undetected cases.

Unfortunately, those who do not know their status cannot access treatment when they have to, and consequently become major sources for the spread of the disease in the community. We have been pointing out for many years that, whilst women may be the most vulnerable to the disease, at the same time we must be concerned about the fact that men are even less likely to know their status - yet they are the ones who tend to have multiple partners and are less enthusiastic about protected sex. We believe that more work could still be done to engage men as partners; hence the importance of working with Men focused Networks and organisations such as Munna ndi Nnyi? And others with the sole intention of changing negative lifestyles.

Programme director

However, irrespective of this challenge, work continues to be done by government to ensure that treatment is rolled out to thousands of people who are already infected in the province. To date almost 97% of treatment facilities have been accredited to implement comprehensive programme on HIV and AIDS. The number of ART sites has increased from 37 last year to 47 this year. Our intention as government is to implement the comprehensive program on HIV and AIDS in all Health facilities by 2009. This will go a long way to ensure that people living with the disease have access to treatment closer to their homes.

On the other hand, we continue to experience the drug resistant strain of TB which has been declared a crisis in the country. Whilst prevalence of this, is low in our province, it is however on the increase and remains a challenge.

Programme director

Obviously, HIV and AIDS cannot be addressed in isolation from other health challenges. You will know that one critical challenge facing our health system at the moment is the shortage of health personnel in our clinics and public hospitals. For us to make the most maximum impact in arresting the scourge, we obviously need to do better with the retention of skills and personnel. Our health system needs the service of more doctors and nurses to fill the vacant positions which are there in our hospitals and clinics. We also need more drugs and appropriate medicines to respond to the ever increasing strains of infections which overburden our health system.

There is no doubt that the recent outbreak of Cholera in Zimbabwe which has since spread to parts of Musina and the country, will further compound our responses in dealing with the challenge of HIV and AIDS. We call on every member of the community in the affected areas to heed the prevention message from government and the non-governmental organisation's (NGO's) around Cholera. This is also one area in which we need partnership.

Programme director

Notwithstanding all the challenges which we have, it must be said that our country remains one of the few in the world which has the largest antiretrovirals (ARV) programme. But at the same time we must indicate that access to this programme remains one of the most daunting challenges. During the coming year, efforts will have to be made to ensure that more and more people are able to access the programme.

We believe most of you are familiar with efforts that have been made to develop both the National and Provincial Strategic Plans on HIV and AIDS which emphasises the need for:

* counselling and social support services
* nutritional supplementation
* treatment of opportunistic infections
* anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy.

In our view, these plans have the potential to mitigate the impact of the disease in the long term, if all of us can join hands in their implementation. Obviously our efforts will count for nothing if we also do not fight rejection and the stigma attached to those who are infected and affected with HIV and AIDS. Those living with the disease equally have a responsibility to live positive lifestyles which are exemplary to members of the community. The underlying message of Zithande which is about examining yourself to ensure that your actions have a "love yourself" outcome cannot be over-emphasised.

Programme director

There can be no doubt that we all need to strengthen our commitment to the partnership against AIDS in order to stop new infections, and to provide the necessary treatment, care and social support. It is within this context that we call on all leaders in the province to be united against HIV and AIDS in order to demonstrate that it can indeed be prevented and treated.

In the same breath, we call upon all South Africans to ensure that from now onwards no baby is born with HIV. We also make a call to all South Africans to stop the spread of HIV by having safe sex, which means having one sexual partner and consistently using condoms.

* Every South African needs to ensure that they know their HIV status and get treatment before they get sick. We must bear in mind that ART (anti-retroviral therapy) works only with good nutrition in order to greatly prolong and improve the lives of those living with HIV.

Lastly, we call on all South Africans to ensure that children from households affected by HIV and AIDS are protected and enabled to complete their education without any hindrance.

Let us join hands and work together towards an HIV free generation!

I thank you!

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
1 December 2008