Address by Honourable Premier TSP Makwetla at the Launch of the Mpumalanga Aids Council
30 November 2007

Programme Director

MEC SW Lubisi and Honourable Members of the Executive Council

MP's and MPL's

Executive Mayors and Councillors

Traditional Leaders and our spiritual leaders

Members of the Mpumalanga Aids Council

Health workers and care-givers

Government's Social Partners

Senior Managers and our Provincial Administration

Ladies and gentlemen

On the eve of World Aids Day, the launch of the Mpumalanga Aids Council is a significant milestone in giving concrete expression to our collective resolve and commitment to fighting the devastating scourge of the HIV and Aids pandemic in the Province.

Programme Director, this launch is significant in creating and sustaining partnerships that enable an effective multi-sectoral response to HIV and AIDS. The meaningful participation of all sectors of society in the mobilisation and coordination of programmatic interventions will help to provide leadership, monitoring and evaluation of the Province's work on HIV and AIDS.

I would like to convey my appreciation and gratitude to all the members of the Council, representing different sectors, for their willingness to partner with government and participate in the ongoing fight against the debilitating impact of HIV and AIDS in our communities. I know that most of you are, in many ways, part of HIV and AIDS interventions in the different sectors that you represent.

As a country, our National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (2007-2011), has set bold targets to stem the tide of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Among others, we need to ensure that we reduce the number of new infections by 50%, and work hard to reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS on individuals, families and communities by expanding access to appropriate treatment, care and support to at least 80% of all people diagnosed with HIV and AIDS.

If we are to achieve these goals, the Provincial Aids Council that we are launching today has an immense responsibility to provide leadership and oversee implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all aspects of the National Strategic Plan. We need to ensure that we strengthen inter-sectoral collaboration and coordination so that we maximise impact in the fight against the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

Central to our success in meeting the national objectives is the need to bolster institutional capacity for the accelerated implementation of the HIV and AIDS programme. We need to enhance on-going efforts in the roll-out of prevention programmes and the implementation of the treatment, care and support regime for people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. We need to expand access to voluntary counselling and testing services and broaden coverage by ensuring that the number of accredited sites is increased.

As a Province we are making headway in the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on HIV and Aids and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. There is room for improvement in many aspects of our work. We are confident that the leadership and advisory role of the Council will provide the necessary momentum and add value to the implementation of the HIV and AIDS programme in the Province.

To date we have 333 facilities that are providing Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) services, and we have deployed 628 lay counsellors. We have also been paying attention to the expansion of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) services by ensuring that all health care facilities that are providing antenatal services also offer PMTCT services. We have increased PMTCT sites from 295 to 344.

We have been working on expanding access to Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) to those who need it. To date 22 666 people are on ART. In many respects, we have agreed that much still needs to be done in improving access to health services.

Collectively, we need to heighten HIV and AIDS awareness and continue to mobilise broad-based community participation in fighting the impact of the disease. The role of community-based organisations must be harnessed to contribute to institutional capacity requirements for the implementation of HIV and AIDS programmes.

Members of the Provincial Aids Council will agree that the task ahead is daunting but not insurmountable. It provides us with the opportunity to pool our resources and efforts as government and civil society so that we ‘STOP HIV and AIDS'. This is a call to nation action.

Above all, this must be accompanied by a province-wide call for all communities to embark on a spirited campaign by all of us to conquer the HIV and AIDS pandemic, and save valuable lives. To succeed, we must manage all the HIV and AIDS programmes efficiently and turn them into centres of excellence in our administration. We must promote innovation and creativity in our many community-based prevention and care programmes and projects to give meaning to our motto of being a province with a pioneering spirit.

Last but not least, we must decisively turn around the sex culture in our communities, especially among young people.

In this regard, a matter which must receive our urgent attention, as I have said before, is the student youth. The behaviour of students in many of our schools is, needless to say, suicidal. This is indeed a national tragedy. How else can we explain widespread utter ignorance among a segment of our youth-community which is suppose to be the most enlightened? All of us, parents, teachers and government must stand up in the commitment to half new infections by the Year 2011.

Once again, I wish all the members of the new Council well in their mission and in the execution of their responsibilities.

Thank you.