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Prevention should be taken as the main weapon in the fight against HIV and AIDS in South Africa. This was said by various speakers at the World Aids Day commemoration event held in Driefontein, Mpumalanga today.
Held under the theme “We Are Responsible” the event was addressed by Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa Mr Kgalema Motlanthe and health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi

In his speech the health Minister called on all South Africans to work with government and other sectors in the South African National Aids Council (SANAC) in preventing the spread of HIV in the country. “Just as it is important to treat people, the key tool that we have in the fight against HIV and AIDS is prevention. As South Africans we have to place a huge premium on prevention as part of ensuring that we back the backbone of HIV transmission in our society”, said the health Minister.

This year’s theme “We Are Responsible” is based on the importance of individual and collective responsibility in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

As part of prevention measures, the Department of Health plans to increase the distribution of male condoms from 450 million to one billion while female condoms will be increased from 1 million to 6 million. South Africa has also recently adopted Medical Male Circumcision (MMC) as part of prevention.

In his speech, Deputy President Motlanthe announced that since its launch in April this year, the HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) Campaign has tested 4 680 000 people thus far. The campaign seeks to test 15 million people by June next year. The Deputy President also called on South Africans to get tested for HIV and others diseases such as Diabetes in public health facillities which is provided free of charge.