CAPE TOWN, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Deputy President David Mabuza on Friday convened an inaugural meeting of the National AIDS Council Inter-Ministerial Committee in the sixth administration to deliberate on South Africa's response to HIV and tuberculosis (TB) epidemics.
The meeting must discuss and provide a clear direction on how South Africa intends to take in addressing some of the challenges noted for instance in the UNAIDS 2019 Global AIDS Report, Mabuza told participants.
According to the report, South Africa bears the highest burden of HIV globally, wherein 7.9 million people are living with HIV, of which 4.4 million are on antiretroviral treatment.
Key and vulnerable populations, including adolescent girls and young women, remain disproportionately affected by HIV. In addition, South Africa is among the 30 countries in the world with the highest burden of TB.
"Our country remains confronted by the challenge of HIV and tuberculosis epidemics," Mabuza said.
Confronted by this reality, the 2017-2022 National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs (sexual transmitted infection) must continue to guide the implementation of the country's multi-sectoral response to the epidemic, said Mabuza.
This is aligned to the National Development Plan and the Global Sustainable Development Goals, he said.
"Therefore, our collective response to these challenges must entail very focused interventions, including targeted plans and campaigns that we are going to embark upon in this 6th democratic administration," said Mabuza.
These efforts must triumph over the challenges brought by HIV, AIDS, STIs and TB on the health of ther nation, Mabuza said.
"Our next focus should be on prevention, and more prevention. Over the course of this term, we must consolidate our partnerships and collaborative work with all key stakeholders such as traditional leaders as we fight the HIV and TB epidemics," he said.
