SA zeroes in on targets for commemoration

Country aims at wiping out discrimination

CHANGE your attitude and work towards zero discrimination against those who are HIV-positive.

That’s the government’s focus for World Aids Day today: zero stigmatisation, zero discrimination.

“The aim of this campaign is to ensure that the rights of people living with HIV and Aids are not violated, and that discrimination on the basis of HIV, Aids and TB (tuberculosis) is not only reduced, but ultimately eliminated,” said the government in its outline of the campaign, adding that this should not lose sight of the ultimate focus of ending the epidemic.

Internationally, the campaign is focused on ending the epidemic by 2030, or getting to zero: zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero Aids-related deaths.

Two weeks ago, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aids ( UNAids) released its report, “Fast-Track: Ending the Aids epidemic by 2030”, which says that taking the fast-track approach would avert about 28 million new HIV infections and 21 million Aids-related deaths by 2030.

“We have bent the trajectory of the epidemic,” said Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAids.

“Now, we have five years to break it for good or risk the epidemic rebounding out of control.”

The UNAids new fast-track tar-

We have bent the trajectory of the

epidemic

gets for 2020 are 90-90-90. This means 90 percent of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90 percent of people who know their HIV-positive status being on treatment, and 90 percent of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads.

The UNAids fast-track targets for 2030 are 95-95-95.

The national government’s main Aids Day event today is in Lejweleputswa, near Virginia in the Free State, while the Gauteng government’s main event is at Beyers Naudé Square in Joburg.

This will focus on alleviating the stigma of HIV and Aids, working towards the pledge of a world without Aids, and creating awareness of the need for care and support of Aids patients and their families.

The City of Joburg has planned an event at the city hall.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is holding a reunion in Braamfontein of activists whose efforts over at least a decade have helped end Aids denialism and launch the antiretroviral programme in public hospitals and clinics.

“In the years since it started, this programme has prevented 2.5 million deaths,” said the TAC’s Mark Heywood. “It’s a shining example of how citizen activism can… bring back hope and dignity. In a world racked by wars and diseases that take millions of innocent lives, it stands out as a rare example of how we can save lives.”