Afford HIV/Aids top priority again

HIV/Aids is a tough sell these days. Once accepted as one of this country’s most pressing medico-social problems (along with tuberculosis), the government’s belated but rapidly scaled-up roll-out of antiretroviral medicine brought with it a noticeable apathy towards awareness.

This to the extent that over the years we have come to rely on World Aids Day on December 1 to light our candles in memory of those already taken, and others sure to follow.

And yet the battle against this disease rages on.

Science has made notable strides and this week a new South African vaccine efficacy study was announced, based on a much earlier trial in Thailand that showed promise. If reasonably successful, it would be another quiver in the bow.

Furthermore, mother-tochild transmissions have come down starkly and antiretrovirals have rendered HIV a virtual chronic condition.

But the elusive cure remains just that and until such time as humanity finds a single silver bullet, if ever, it will mean taking a variety of prophylactic measures to keep the virus at arm’s length.

The argument is incomplete, however, without noting the behavioural risk associated with an infection rate.

Nelson Mandela Bay metro has emerged as a provincial hotspot for new infections and commentators think destructive lifestyle choices are a big factor.

Sadly, women under 25 are presenting as the most vulnerable cohort. Figures released at a commemoration in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday revealed 2 354 new infections among them this year.

There can be no doubt that what we are dealing with is a medical tragedy. At the same time, though, HIV remains a symptom of our social turmoil, the sign of a system in disarray.

To get back on track will take more than rands and cents. We should all start by putting the issue front and centre of our thinking again.