Ramaphosa: Time to secure an Aids-free SA

Addressing communities in the Ugu District Municipality near Port Shepstone on World Aids Day, Ramaphosa said: “This fight has brought humanity together. It has done more to unite the world than to divide it.”

He remarked on how 27 years had passed since the world first commemorated World Aids Day in 1988.

The theme for World Aids Day, he noted, was “Rise. Act. Protect” and said it was an apt theme as it was the nation’s responsibility, both individually and collectively, to stop the spread of the virus through their own actions, and taking care of their own health and that of others.

Ramaphosa said vulnerable citizens needed to be protected from the disease and young people needed to be equipped and empowered with tools and the knowledge they needed to resist the dangers of peer pressure.

He challenged citizens to do their part in preventing HIV and Aids, as “no action is too small, no contribution is wasted”.

Ramaphosa called on men to get tested, and reiterated Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini’s call for safe male circumcision.

Amid the audience he addressed were KwaZulu-Natal Premier Senzo Mchunu and Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.

“This devastating virus has reminded us of our common humanity and our common vulnerability. It is has also awakened us to our collective strength and shared future,” Ramaphosa said.

Noting how Aids did not discriminate, Rampaphosa emphasised the need for the country to ensure people were educated about the disease, how it was spread and how to stop it, because the disease was spread through ignorance, poverty, stigma and gender inequality.

Each person should “feel comfortable to test and be treated” for Aids should they test positive.

He urged the youth and society to stop engaging in destructive behaviour that perpetuated the spread of Aids, such as alcohol abuse, drugs and unsafe sex.

Recognising South Africa as having the world’s largest antiretroviral programme targeted at treating the disease, he noted success in people living longer, and a reduction in the number of mother-to-child HIV transmission cases.

However, Ramaphosa somberly said that challenges remained in pushing back the tide on HIV and Aids.

He cited statistics which showed how the number of new HIV infections was particularly high among women and girls, with “over 2,300 girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 becoming infected with HIV each week”.

A devastatingly high number, he said the aim was to reduce the number of new infections in this group by 30 percent within the next three years.

Intervention strategies to prevent and treat HIV and Aids should be prioritised, he added. This was essential to ensure greater success in combatting the disease.

Research in HIV and Aids and TB he said was ongoing, and the Department of Health and the South African National Aids Council were committed to making use of the UNAIDS Fast-Track approach that employed innovative approaches that provided people with “comprehensive prevention and treatment services”.

“World AIDS Day serves as an important reminder that the epidemic is still with us and that we must do more to increase awareness and to eliminate prejudice.”

Ramaphosa applauded the work NGOs, HIV and Aids champions do on the frontlines of combatting the disease. “Because of their consistent work, today we speak with one voice and a single message that we can make HIV and AIDS history.”

It was time, he said, to “secure an Aids-free South Africa and an Aids-free world.”