As South Africa joins the international community in marking World Aids Day, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has appealed to men to come forward and be tested for HIV.
The theme for this year’s World Aids Day, to be held in the Tlokwe Municipality in Potchefstroom, in the North West is, “Are dlale safe for zero new HIV and TB infections”. Unlike previous year in which the day was characterised by long speeches from politicians, there will be a soccer match and testing for HIV, TB and other diseases.
Motsoaledi says they have opted to use soccer, which is popular among men, to send messages around HIV/Aids. Motsoaledi says out of the 20-million people tested for HIV, only 35% are men, 65 % are women, 5% are children.
“Part of the reason why this year we are specifically targeting sports is because we are worried about men in this fight against HIV/Aids, men are very slippery, very very slippery. We are trying to find a way to capture them. When we check how HIV/Aids is propagated men are central. If you were to theoretically remove men from the planet and put them somewhere for about 10 years believe you me when you bring them back Aids will be gone completely, this is no joke, it could happen.” It is estimated that close to six million people are living with HIV in the country and 1.7 million are on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.
South Africa has been commended for its efforts to fight HIV and AIDS
Motsoaledi also says young people need to be safe. “We are trying to appeal to young people by making use of this theme that combines tsotsi taal, African languages, English and a HIV/Aids message, “Are dlale safe” because we want our young people to be safe,” he says.
Meanwhile, South Africa has been commended for its efforts to fight HIV/Aids. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) says South Africa has made the highest domestic investment in Aids among all low and middle-income countries.
Some of South Africa’s successes include having the most number of people on ARV treatment and reducing the rate of mother-to-child transmission from 8% in 2008 to 2.7%, last year. At least 20 million South Africans know their HIV status. This, after being tested for HIV through government’s HIV Counselling and Testing campaign, launched two years ago.
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