HIV on decrease, says Manto

2008-06-05 21:30

Cape Town - The prevalence of HIV is on the decrease, said Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang in Parliament on Thursday.

Speaking in her budget debate, Tshabalala-Msimang said a survey that would be released soon would show that the prevalence of HIV had decreased in the past two years.

She said the preliminary findings of the latest survey of HIV prevalence among pregnant women attending public ante-natal clinics, demonstrated a downward trend in HIV prevalence.

"The 2007 survey shows that HIV prevalence has decreased from an estimated 29.2% in 2006 to 28.0% in 2007," she said.

"HIV prevalence in the 15-19 years age group dropped from 13.7% in 2006 to 12.9% in 2007; in addition, a decrease was observed in the 25-29 years age group from 38.7% in 2006 to 37.9% in 2007.

"The rate in the 20-24 years group was stable between 2006-2007," she said.

Tshabalala-Msimang said that, taken together, these figures suggested a trend of decreasing HIV prevalence overall.

She attributed the encouraging trend to intensive prevention campaigns that were beginning to make a difference in reducing HIV infection.

She said the full report detailing findings of the survey on the prevalence of HIV and syphilis in the country would be released within the next few weeks.

Tshabalala-Msimang also announced progress in the provision of treatment to those living with HIV/Aids.

"By the end of February 2008, we had cumulatively initiated more than 450 000 patients on antiretroviral treatment, in more than 310 accredited sites across the nine provinces," she said.

Inequalities in resources

"This contradicts those voices that suggest this government is not concerned about treatment," she said.

She also raised concerns about the continued inequities in the use of the country's resources between the public and private health sectors, with the private sector remaining inaccessible mainly because of escalating fees charged.

She said her department had submitted the national health amendment bill to Parliament in an attempt to address this challenge.

The bill provided for the appointment of a facilitator to work with funders (medical schemes) and private health-care providers to seek agreement on tariffs for health-care services provided by the private health sector, said Tshabalala-Msimang.

- SAPA