Durban - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube commemorated World Aids Day with members of the executive council at Dannhauser, in the Amajuba District Municipality, in northern KZN yesterday.
Dube-Ncube said that there was a need to encourage boys and girls to delay having sex and instead focus on their studies.
“We need our young men and women to be the captains of their own ships, and masters of their own destiny. The youth are the future leaders of our country, therefore we need a healthy generation of young people who will take our country forward.”
Dube-Ncube said World Aids Day had been observed across the world since 1988 to highlight and demonstrate solidarity in the fight against HIV.
“This year marks 41 years since the world came to know about the first reported case of Aids on June 5, 1981, in the US. I want to commend the government for working hard to improve access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy, which has increased people’s life expectancy and averted the Aids-related mass burials that once characterised life in South Africa.”
She said the fight against false beliefs about Aids had to continue.
“Reducing HIV-related stigma is a top priority for the provincial government in order to improve the quality of life for all persons with HIV. We urge the people of KwaZulu-Natal to get tested and know their status, so that if they are living with HIV they can be initiated on treatment immediately, and also avoid spreading the virus.”
She said government wanted a province where there were no new infections.
“Unfortunately there are a lot of new infections in young people, particularly in women whom we think are the most vulnerable because of the socio-economic situation that they face in our province. What we are doing as a government is to make it more accessible for women to pick up medication, and also more accessible for young people to get treatment at clinics.”
Professor Nigel Garrett, head of HIV Pathogenesis and Vaccine Research at the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa and associate professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said that progress had been made in the treatment of HIV, especially with the introduction of dolutegravir-based treatment.
“Antiretroviral medication is used to treat patients diagnosed with HIV and is also used to prevent HIV following before and after exposure. We have taken giant steps with the Department of Health in ensuring that this medication is more accessible to patients requiring it.
“The HIV programme has also been improved by strengthening community-based HIV treatment delivery, like the introduction of the Central Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution system.
“This enables patients to not have to wait at hospitals or large clinics for their HIV medication, but are able to go to community pick-up points for medication, including pharmacies.”