Opening Remarks by Deputy President David Mabuza, Chairperson of the SANAC, at the SANAC Inter-Ministerial Committee meeting, Tuynhuys, Cape Town

Ministers and Deputy Ministers
CEO of SANAC, Dr Sandile Buthelezi and Team
Chairperson of the 9th SA AIDS Conference, Prof Refilwe Phaswana-Mafuya
Colleagues
 
Let me begin by welcoming all of you to this inaugural meeting of the South African National AIDS Council Inter-Ministerial Committee in the sixth administration.
 
A number of events and landmarks have taken place since our last meeting, which included the public launch of our “Cheka Impilo” National Wellness Campaign; the World AIDS Day Commemoration of 2018 and the United Nations High Level Meeting (HLM) on Ending Tuberculosis, which took place on 26 September 2018 and was addressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
 
We have convened today’s meeting specifically to firstly, introduce all the new Members of the SANAC IMC, and to welcome back returning Members of this IMC.
 
Secondly, we have convened this IMC meeting to deliberate on various aspects of our South Africa’s response to the HIV and TB epidemics. We also want to focus on the following:  
 
• Outcomes of the South African AIDS Conference 2019 and Proposed Action Plan,
• The UNAIDS 2019 Global AIDS Report and proposed plan of action, and
• Funding for the HIV and TB response.
 
This meeting must discuss and provide a clear direction on how we intend to take in addressing some of the challenges noted for instance in the UNAIDS 2019 Global AIDS Report that we officially launched in Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal on 16 July 2019.
 
Our country remains confronted by the challenge of HIV and Tuberculosis epidemics.
 
According to the Report, our country 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.
 
Confronted by this reality, our National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs 2017-2022 must continue to guide the implementation of the country’s multi-sectoral response to the epidemic. This is aligned to the National Development Plan and the Global Sustainable Development Goals.
 
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. Our efforts must triumph over the challenges brought by HIV, AIDS, STIs and TB on the health of our nation. In this regard, we will not fail.
 
Nonetheless, we draw inspiration from the UNAIDS 2019 Global AIDS Report that identified the rural community of Eshowe as having managed to exceed the United Nations’ 90-90-90 targets before the year 2020.
 
In 2014, the United Nations programme for HIV/AIDS introduced the 90-90-90 concept with the vision that by the year 2020, 90% of people who are HIV infected will be diagnosed, 90% of people who are diagnosed will be on antiretroviral treatment, and 90% of those who receive antiretroviral treatment will be virally suppressed.
 
That is why Eshowe was chosen for the launch of the Report, because in Eshowe, 90% of people who are infected with HIV were diagnosed, 94% of people who were diagnosed are on antiretroviral treatment and 95% of those who receive antiretroviral treatment are virally suppressed. This means that they achieved 90-94-95 and exceeded the set 90-90-90 target.
 
We once again congratulate the community of Eshowe, especially the community and health workers and all our stakeholders for collaborating and working together to fight the epidemic.  
 
We wish to also call upon the rest of our communities to duplicate the example of Eshowe and for this SANAC collective to redouble our efforts at bringing down the curtain on HIV, AIDS and TB.
 
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.
 
With these few words, 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.

I thank you.