SA’s long war on HIV still not over
Medical council reflects on advances made to defeat the epidemic at World Aids Day
THROUGH the government-led rollout of HIV testing, counselling, support and antiretroviral therapy (ART), life expectancy in South Africa has increased and the rate of early mother-to-child transmission of HIV has plummeted.
But despite all these efforts, the HIV epidemic is not under control: about 1 000 new HIV infections occur every day in South Africa, according to the South African Medical Research Council.
The council, which has been at the forefront of cutting edge research and innovation to tackle the HIV epidemic, reflected on the 30th commemoration of World Aids Day on Saturday.
It said the scale-up and improvement in the quality of key HIV-related interventions, including early diagnosis, linkages to care, counselling and support for ART adherence, preventing post-delivery mother-to-child HIV transmission and caring for the growing population of HIV-exposed uninfected children, was required.
In addition to scaling-up interventions, the national medical council is researching new biomedical interventions such as vaccines and long-acting, injectable antiretrovirals for the prevention of HIV.
South Africa has walked a long journey in the fight against the HIV epidemic, with the nation’s medical research council in tow.
Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, who focused on the immunology of HIV when he was at Oxford in 1982, stood up to South Africa’s president at the height of Aids denialism.
He risked his position at the helm of the council. His courage at this critical point set a path for the pursuit of science and truth.
According to the council, an estimated 7.9 million people live with HIV in South Africa, with 270 000 new infections and 110 000 Aids-related deaths.
SAMRC president and chief executive Professor Glenda Gray said the council’s research had demonstrated the effectiveness of the national programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV at six weeks and 18 months post-delivery, and has impacted on national policy.
Repeat HIV testing for HIV-negative women and more frequent HIV testing for infants has been introduced by the national Department of Health.
“It is important that we bring our research into possible prevention strategies to scale and ultimately impact on national health policy,” Gray said.
She is also the co-principal investigator of the international HIV Vaccine Trials Network, a group of scientists dedicated to the discovery of an HIV vaccine.
The council is currently collaborating with international partners on two of the largest HIV vaccine trials in sub-Saharan Africa – HVTN 702 and HVTN 705.
This study is testing two experimental vaccines to prevent HIV.
“We are in the golden age of HIV vaccine science and hope to, in the next four years, be a game changer and bring valuable tools to the public to protect communities from HIV,” Gray said.