SPEAKER NOTES
On 1 December government departments, non governmental organizations, community organizations and others will be working in partnership to highlight the seriousness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and to focus on dialogue and action.
The theme for this year's World AIDS Day is “Listen, Learn, Live”
The theme is ser internationally by the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS)
Around 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, and approximately 12 million have already died.
In South Africa, approximately 3.5 to 4 million people are infected with HIV. It is estimated that 120 000 people died of AIDS in South Africa in 1998.
HIV/AIDS reaches into every sector of society. It means that we all have to respond to this disease. It is not simply the responsibility of government or organizations working in the AIDS field. Every South African has a role to play.
The effects of this epidemic will impact on nearly all South Africans, and on all spheres of development and social transformation.
It is important to stress that it is not only prevention that is required. With millions of people infected, we need to place emphasis on the care and support of those with HIV/AIDS and their families and loved ones.
Many children are losing one or more parents, and communities and families need to take up the challenge of providing care and support to children orphaned by this disease.
Youth are especially vulnerable to HIV infectin, and at least half of all new HIV infections are amongst those under 25 years of age.
Programme directed at youth need to involve youth leadership, and world wide there are growing trends towards youth run and managed programmes. Health Minister, Dr. Mantu Tshabalala- Msimang has stressed: “we need to listen to communities, especially young people in communities, and together work towards a world where rights of women and children are protected.”
Apart from the urgent issue of prevention, many young people are affected by HIV/AIDS when their parents become ill or die, and systems of care and support need to be put in place to address these needs.
In reviewing the partnership against AIDS on October 8 th year, Deputy President Jacob Zuma said “Over the past year many thousands, indeed millions, of South Africans have committed themselves to AIDS action. For some, these activities have involved simple acts such as wearing the red ribbon, talking more openly about the disease, and raising awareness amongst those around them. For others, it has involved developing strategies and developing programme in the areas of prevention, care and support.
We have seen that preventing HIV infection needs more than lip service. It needs more than piecemeal approaches and once-off activities.
Furthermore, we know that this epidemic is changing. Mary of those who are infected are becoming ill, and we need to provide them with care. We need to support their families and loved ones. We need to recognize that in the most difficult of circumstances, there is hope.
It is not difficult to understand that there is a dire need for action, but also that there are many opportunities for action. Each and every one of us has the power to act.
Throughout our country many dedicated individuals and organizations have provided counseling, care and support to those infected. In our communities, many families have opened their hearts and their homes to those directly affected, especially children orphaned by AIDS.
Within government we have intensified our actions. Many new laws have been introduced, whilst others have been amended to incorporate HIV/AIDS issues.
Both provincial and national government departments have prioritized HIV/AIDS in their day-to-day activities, and government ministers and political leaders across the spectrum have focused their attentions on this disease.
We have stood united in our efforts around this disease, and we have seen our partnerships begin to bear fruit. Now, more than ever, we must expand and intensity our efforts and recommit ourselves to sustained action.
We must continue to share resources and build new partnerships. We must state our goals simply and clearly, and work tirelessly towards achieving them.
We hold the future of this country in our hands, and we have the power to shape that future. We cannot falter. OUR ACTION COUTNS”
Action areas related to the theme include:
- A focus on policies that protect the rights of children any young people;
- Ensuring participation of young people in developing policies and programmes, and in decision-making.
- Promoting dialogue between adults and young people;
- Creating economic opportunities for young people;
- Providing life-skills and sexual health education in schools and in the community;
- Ensuring that health care services are child and youth friendly
- Providing support to children orphaned by AIDS
A simple first step that we can all take is to wear a red ribbon, the red ribbon being the symbol of AIDS awareness, and a visible declaration that the wearers are committed to prioritizing HIV/AIDS within their own lives and within their living and working environments.
There are many factors that place people more at risk of HIV infection:
- migrant labour
- poverty
- urbanization
- low status of women
- lack of condom use
- high numbers of sexual partners
We need to understand that HIV infection is not simply about choices around behaviour, but is influenced by the contexts within which people live. We need to work together to ensure that people continue to talk about HIV, that condoms are widely available, and that people who are living with HIV and AIDS are given care and support, and are not discriminated against in any way.
There are only three methods of HOD transmission:
- by having unprotected sex with an infected person (sex without a condom)
- through contact with infected blood
- from an infected mother to her unborn or newborn baby (but only some babies born to infected mothers become infected with HIV).