South Africa is likely to end AIDS as a threat to public health by 2030, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1.
“While we have reduced the number of deaths and new infections, we are still far from reaching the target we set in 2016 of achieving a 75% reduction in HIV infections by 2020. If we succeed, we are likely to end the AIDS public health threat by 2030.” ‘, he wrote in his weekly newsletter.
“Tomorrow we will join people around the world to mark World AIDS Day.”
International Day is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic, caused by the spread of HIV, and mourning those who have died from the disease.
Ramaphosa said that in order to achieve the goal, they must do much more to ensure that young people are empowered to prevent infections, which include changing behavior, access to condoms and regular testing.
“We need to make sure that everyone who is infected has access to treatment and care,” he said.
The South African leader said his country, which has the largest number of people living with HIV in the world, has made progress in the last decade, reducing the number of new infections and related deaths by almost 60%.
According to UNAIDS, 7.7 million people living with HIV lived in South Africa in 2018.
He called for more efforts to prevent HIV among key populations, including sex workers and injecting drug users.
“We must end the stigma and discrimination of these populations. We cannot hope to end HIV if we ignore the needs, concerns and rights of any part of our population,” he said.
Ramaphosa argued that if the world were to end AIDS as a threat to public health within the next decade, it should combine medical breakthroughs with fundamental changes in behavior.
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