China, SA partner in health drive for Africa

HEALTH Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi will today join China’s Health Minister Dr Lin Bin in donating stateof-the-art X-ray equipment at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital.

Motsoaledi and Bin yesterday co-chaired the 3rd China-Africa ministerial health conference in Pretoria, where 200 delegates from China and various African countries gathered.

According to Motsoaledi, up to eight bilateral agreements were signed between China and the African countries in a bid to improve the health-care system on the continent.

Earlier in the day, Motsoaledi said while there had been massive achievements in prolonging lives through the rollout of ARV treatment, Africa still had a long way to go in combating HIV/Aids.

Speaking under the conference theme “Commitment to Action”, Motsoaledi said the heightened emphasis on prevention, treatment and care over the past decade had seen the rate of new HIV infections slowing down.

“More infected people are receiving antiretroviral drugs…

“We must move forward to implement some of our flagship projects, including the production of generic drugs for HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria, among other things.”

Motsoaledi added that despite the continent’s states joining forces in promoting excellence in health care, Africa could not afford complacency.