Antiretrovirals – ray of light amid bad Zuma years

Former president Jacob Zuma will probably go down in history as one of the worst heads of state we have ever had. In his two terms, the country experienced a rapid surge in corruption of proportions never seen before in post-apartheid South Africa. But to his credit, the one thing he managed to do right was to assist in the fight against HIV/Aids. As soon as he took over as president, his government availed free anti-retroviral treatment to millions of people living with HIV/ Aids. That commitment to the fight against HIV/ Aids is bearing fruit, although the number of people living with HIV/Aids is still worryingly high.

The Eastern Cape alone has 770 704 people living with the virus. Basically, while we are recording significant strides in the fight against HIV/Aids, we still have a war to wage against the scourge. The highest infection rate is among young people. That is why we cannot sit back and merely marvel at the drop in the rate of new infections.

The youth – the country’s future – is at risk.

The SA National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey for 2017, released by the Human Sciences Research Council this week, shows that the rate of new infections among the 15- 24 age group countrywide had increased from 7.1% to 7.9% compared to last year. This shows that young people are not using protection and are engaging in dangerous sexual behaviour. Backing this fact is the report that 3 907 girls aged 15 to 19 gave birth in the Eastern Cape between January and March this year.

What is more encouraging, though, is that 60% of those living with HIV are on ARV treatment.

The survey found that 87% of those on treatment are virally suppressed and cannot transmit the virus during sex. While this is welcome news, the danger is that it could lead to more irresponsible behaviour – especially given the rise in the infection rate among young people.

Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi has blamed parents for the increase in levels of HIV among 1524 year olds. The minister argues he faced fierce resistance when he tried to distribute condoms to schools in 2012. We should not waste time with pointless arguments and finger-pointing.

Rather we should ask ourselves what has gone wrong with sexual education in schools, and what needs to be done to improve the statistics.

This shows that young people are not using protection and are engaging in dangerous sexual behaviour