Africa: We Must Not Turn Our Backs On Aids

10 December 2018
opinion

It has been said that Mandela was proud of the progress the international community had made against AIDS when he passed away in 2013. But he also knew from his long political struggle to never celebrate a job before it is finished. The United Nations believes it is possible to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. This, however, requires un-wavering r commitment from world leaders and other stakeholders in mustering the necessary resources. "The HIV pandemic is not on track to end," a team of doctors warned in the Lancet in July. "The prevailing discourse on ending AIDS has bred a dangerous complacency and may have hastened the weakening of global resolve to combat HIV."

More than 36 million people still live with HIV around the world--and more of them in South Africa than any other nation. In partnership with the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tb & Malaria, the US President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and other key initiatives, the South African government has developed the world's largest anti-retroviral therapy program, giving many HIV-positive people a chance to lead healthy and productive lives. Integrating good nutrition into this program will further improve the outcomes.

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