SA key in war against Aids

THE 21st International AIDS Conference is underway in Durban. It is fitting that the first day of the conference, which ends on Friday, was yesterday, Mandela Day.

The contribution of late former President Nelson Mandela to the fight against HIV/Aids both at home and abroad cannot be understated.

At a time when many South Africans died a painful death in silence for fear of the stigma that came with disclosing one’s HIV/Aids status, Mandela revealed that his own son, Makgatho, was a victim of the scourge after his death in 2005.

The first recorded case of infection in the world was in the early 1980s and the first known death was in 1985.

South Africa continues to have the highest number of people living with HIV in the world. It also has the highest rate of infection.

The history of the epidemic in this country is a painful one. The first two decades of the response to the disease and to the plight of the suffering was characterised by inconsistency, misplaced resources, uncoordinated preventative efforts and blatant neglect in rolling out of ant-retroviral (ARV) treatment to those who needed it most – leading to many premature deaths.

Denial, stigma, unresponsive government policy have been as fatal as the disease itself. Children have been robbed of parents, the elderly of caretakers, the economy of a healthy workforce.

The health system has been placed under strain and social spending has been under pressure given the social ructions that HIV/Aids has left in its wake.

Although the number of people living with HIV and infection rates remain worryingly high, we've come a long way since then.

The third decade of the fight against HIV has registered some successes. South Africa has the most comprehensive ARV treatment roll out programme in the world.

Rates of infection haven't dropped but people living with HIV are living longer. This has contributed to and improved life expectancy. In 2006 life expectancy sat at 55.3 and had improved to 62.5 by 2015.

As scientists work around the clock to optimise a vaccine and find a cure, a lot remains to be done to transform social behaviour.

It seems the availability of treatment may be having unintended consequences of people sidelining preventative measures. South Africa needs urgently to make campaigns on HIV prevention measures more effective.

The International Aids Conference presents a great opportunity for greater progress to be made in combating the scourge globally.

If the back of the virus can be broken in South Africa, it can be broken globally.