Ending the HIV/Aids epidemic as a public health threat and achieving the 95-95-95 targets by 2025 has been at the core focus of this year’s South African Aids Conference taking place in Durban.
The 95-95-95 targets which are outlined in the current Global Aids Strategy, is a new set of ambitious targets that call for 95% of all people living with HIV to know their HIV status, 95% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection to receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 95% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy to have viral suppression by 2025.
South Africa’s health minister Joe Phaahla said the remaining two years would have to be used to accelerate efforts in order to meet the targets.
“More effort is needed to place and retain more people with HIV on treatment. In order to achieve the 95-95-95 targets, we must initiate an additional 1.4 million people on treatment,” he said.
There are currently 94% of people living with HIV who know their status; 77% of those who know their status and are on antiretroviral treatment; and 92% of those on treatment who have a suppressed viral load.
Phaahla said South Africa was also lagging behind when it came to meeting all of the set targets in respect to men and children under 15-years-old.
The government acknowledged that the HIV/TB prevention and treatment programme was severely disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Phaahla said the Coronavirus further compromised the country’s healthcare system and jeopardised decades of development.
The Durban International Convention Centre is hosting the 11th SA Aids Conference, which will end on Friday.
Attending the conference are more than 1 000 delegates, exhibitors and members of the media, civil society and the HIV community to act, connect and end the epidemic.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
Health